Requirements for the Major in Economics
Students majoring in economics may choose from one of two options or plans.
Plan I. General economics. Eleven courses are required in addition to the senior exercise. These courses include the required core, i.e., ECON 051 PO , ECON 052 PO , ECON 057 PO , ECON 101 PO , ECON 102 PO , ECON 107 PO or ECON 167 PO , plus five upper-division courses in economics (numbered 115 and above). At least two of the five upper-division courses must be numbered ECON 150 PO or above. One accounting course may be counted as an elective. Completion of at least one course in calculus (MATH 030 PO or higher) is required for all economics majors.
Plan II. Mathematical economics. Thirteen courses are required in addition to the senior exercise. The required economics courses include the core, i.e., ECON 051 PO , ECON 052 PO , ECON 057 PO , ECON 101 PO , ECON 102 PO and ECON 167 PO and four upper-division courses, at least two of which must be either ECON 151 PO , ECON 154 PO , ECON 161 PO , ECON 162 PO , ECON 163 PO or ECON 164 PO . One accounting course may be counted as an elective. The mathematics requirement may be fulfilled with a course in multivariate calculus (such as MATH 032 PO or MATH 107 PO ), MATH 060 PO and any one of the following mathematics courses: MATH 101 PO , MATH 102 PO , MATH 131 PO , MATH 151 PO , MATH 183 PO , or MATH 187 PO .
Economics and mathematics courses offered for completion of the Economics Major (Plan I or II) must be taken for a letter grade. Courses taken on a P/NC basis are not acceptable in fulfillment of major requirements. A grade of C- or better in required core courses is required for majors in the field. In both plans, students who received a 4 or 5 on both the Microeconomics and Macroeconomics AP exams may skip ECON 051 PO or ECON 052 PO .
Senior Exercise. Both Plan I and Plan II culminate in a senior exercise that consists of ECON 190 PO - Senior Seminar in Economics and ECON 195 PO - Senior Activity in Economics . December graduates should enroll in ECON 195 PO only in the fall; and spring graduates should enroll only in the spring.
Interdisciplinary Majors with Concentrations in Economics
Economics can also be selected as an area of concentration within four other majors: environmental analysis (EA); public policy analysis (PPA); philosophy, politics and economics (PPE); and gender & women’s studies (GWS).Those who are interested should see the relevant program description and consult with their advisors.
Other Information
Placement: Students may take a placement exam offered by the Department to determine whether they may skip ECON 051 PO or ECON 052 PO prior to taking a more advanced course in economics that has one or both of these courses as a prerequisite. Majors and minors in Economics can consider their course requirements for 51 or 52 waived if they perform satisfactorily on the relevant portion of the test, but a student who skips both 51 and 52 must take one additional economics elective to fulfill the major or minor requirement.
Recommended programs. It is strongly recommended that students take at least one economics course at the College before enrolling in 101 or 102, and take ECON 057 PO before taking upper division courses numbered 115 or higher.It is often useful if economics majors complete ECON 101 PO , ECON 102 PO , and either ECON 107 PO or ECON 167 PO before taking upper-division courses. Students who plan to spend a semester abroad are encouraged to take ECON 101 PO , ECON 102 PO , ECON 107 PO , and at least one course in a field of interest before going overseas.
