Program: Economics (Ph.D.) - Kansas State University

Apr 08, 2025

2019-2020 Graduate Catalog

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.

Required course work

As part of the 90 hours required for a Ph.D. degree, each Ph.D. degree program must contain the following 30 hours of course work or equivalent:

ECON 735 - Mathematical Economics Credits: 3
ECON 805 - Macroeconomic Theory I Credits: 3
ECON 830 - Econometrics I Credits: 3
ECON 905 - Macroeconomic Theory II Credits: 3
ECON 930 - Econometrics II Credits: 3
ECON 940 - Advanced Microeconomic Theory I Credits: 3
ECON 945 - Advanced Microeconomic Theory II Credits: 3
Two graduate economics courses at the 800-level or above, one of which is in a third field. Credits: 6

and select one of these four courses:
AGEC 901 - Research Methods in Economics Credits: 3
AGEC 905 - Agricultural Demand and Commodity Marketing Credits: 3
AGEC 923 - Economics of Agricultural Production Credits: 3
AGEC 936 - Quantitative Topics in Agricultural Economics Credits: 3

Additional requirement

Also required is course work in two fields of specialization. Normally a field consists of 6 additional hours of course work in economics or in related departments. Students entering the Ph.D. program with a master’s degree in economics may receive 30 hours of credit for that degree.

Ph.D. dissertation

In the process of completing the research and writing of a Ph.D. dissertation, the student must enroll in at least 30 hours of the following:

ECON 999 - PhD Research in Economics Credits: 1-18

Ph.D. qualifying exams

Students must pass qualifying exams in macroeconomic theory and microeconomic theory. Students are normally expected to take these exams immediately after completing the aforementioned course work. The courses preparing the students for these exams are:

ECON 805 - Macroeconomic Theory I Credits: 3
ECON 905 - Macroeconomic Theory II Credits: 3
ECON 940 - Advanced Microeconomic Theory I Credits: 3
ECON 945 - Advanced Microeconomic Theory II Credits: 3

Additional Requirements

A preliminary exam must also be passed in one other fields. This field must include at least six hours of course work at the 800-level or above. The field exam may not be taken until the macroeconomic theory and microeconomic theory exams are passed.