Mar 28, 2024  
2012-2013 Graduate Catalog 
    
2012-2013 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Economics (M.A.)


The M.A. program in Economics  can be tailored to prepare students for positions in business or government or to provide a solid foundation for Ph.D. level studies.  The master’s degree program consists of at least 30 credit hours and includes courses in microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory and statistics.  Beyond this, students have considerable flexibility in choosing coursework. Remaining courses are selected and agreed upon by the student and his or her advisory committee based on the student’s background, objectives, and undergraduate preparation. The M.A. degree can be completed in one to two years. 

Admission


In addition to general Graduate School requirements, the Department of Economics has the following requirements for admission.

Course requirements


  • 3 credit hours of intermediate macroeconomic theory
  • 3 credit hours of intermediate microeconomic theory
  • 3 credit hours of statistics
  • 3 credit hours of calculus

If these courses are not part of the student’s undergraduate program, admission will be provisional upon completing these courses.

Grade requirements


A 3.0 GPA in the last 60 credit hours taken with no C’s, or lower, in the courses listed above. Although students with academic performance below these standards may be admitted because of other considerations such as high GRE scores, admission will be probationary.

Graduate record examination


Applicants for admission to either M.A. or Ph.D. programs are normally expected to provide their Graduate Record Examination general test scores.

Degree options


Three options are available to complete the master’s degree:


thesis option, report option, and Ph.D. qualifying-exam option.

Thesis option:


As part of the required 30 hours of course work, the student must complete a master’s thesis, for which 6 semester credit hours are given.

Report option:


As part of the required 30 hours of course work, the student must complete a master’s report for which 2 semester hours of credit are given.

Required course work


Each master’s degree program must consist of at least 30 hours and include courses in microeconomic theory (ECON 720) and macroeconomic theory (ECON 805) along with a course in statistics, unless the student has previously taken a statistics course for graduate credit.

Specific course requirements beyond these core requirements are selected and agreed upon by the student and his or her advisory committee based on the student’s background, objectives, and undergraduate preparation. The program may include a minor consisting of 6 to 12 hours of course credit in a single field (outside the Department of Economics).

Note:


Ph.D. qualifying-exam option: The Ph.D. qualifying-exam option requires successful completion (a grade of B or higher) of a graduate economics course that has as one of its requirements the writing of a term paper, and a master’s-level pass in the Ph.D. qualifying exams in microeconomic theory and macroeconomic theory.