Requirements for B.A.
Basic Requirements
The major in Economics leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree. All courses offered for the major must be passed with a letter grade of C or higher.
Completion of the major requires approximately 41–46 credits.
A.Minimum of 12 courses.
At least 11 of the courses must be economics, distributed as follows:
1. ECO 110 – Introduction to Microeconomics (3 credits)
2. ECO 111 – Introduction to Macroeconomics (3 credits)
Note: This requirement may also be satisfied by students who earned credit for ECO 108 prior to Summer 2025.
3. Intermediate economics courses:
ECO 303 – Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (4 credits)
ECO 305 – Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory (4 credits)
ECO 320 – Mathematical Statistics (4 credits)
ECO 321 – Econometrics (4 credits)
4. Five additional courses in economics at the 300 level and above, not including ECO 359 or ECO 459. Each must be taken for a minimum of three credits. One of the five electives must be a course from the following list:
ECO 310 – Basic Computational Methods in Economics (4 credits)
ECO 322 – Data Science and Machine Learning in Economics (3 credits)
ECO 323 – Applied Microeconomics (4 credits)
ECO 324 – Empirical Industrial Organization (4 credits)
ECO 326 – Industrial Organization (3 credits)
ECO 329 – Urban Economics (3 credits)
ECO 348 – Analysis for Managerial Decision Making (4 credits)
ECO 351 – Special Topics in Economics (3 credits)
ECO 352 – Special Topics in Economics (3 credits)
ECO 354 – Special Topics in Economics (3 credits)
ECO 355 – Game Theory (3 credits)
ECO 357 – Special Topics in Economics (3 credits)
ECO 360 – Money and Banking (3 credits)
ECO 362 – Financial Economics (3 credits)
ECO 383 – Public Finance (3 credits)
ECO 386 – International Finance (3 credits)
ECO 389 – Corporate Finance (3 credits)
5. One additional course, either in economics (not including ECO 359 or ECO 459) or from a list of pre-approved electives in other departments, that carries a minimum of three credits.
Note: No more than two 400-level courses will count toward fulfillment of the major.
B.Mathematics
MAT 125 – Calculus A (3 credits)
OR
MAT 130 (1 credit) and MAT 125 (3 credits)
OR
AMS 151 – Applied Calculus I (3 credits)
OR
level 6 on the mathematics placement examination
OR
any higher-level calculus course (See Note 2)
Note: If students do not place into MAT 125 on the basis of the math placement examination, MAT 123 or MAT 119/MAT 123 is a required course for the major.
C.Upper-Division Writing Requirement:
Students should meet the upper-division writing requirement during their senior year,
after having completed all (or most) of their upper-division major requirements. All
students must do so by registering for the WRTD certified class ECO 359 unless they intend to complete a larger, more substantial, independent research project.
Those seeking to complete a substantial independent research project should not register
for ECO 359. They should instead seek a faculty member’s approval to register for ECO 487 and obtain their WRTD certification by registering for the 0-credit ECO 459 class in the same semester. In exceptional cases, a paper completed as part of another
ECO upper-division class might be used to satisfy the upper-division writing requirement
as long as the class instructor and student agree to this and the student registers
for ECO 459 at the same time.
For double majors, students need to fulfill the Economics upper-division writing requirement
in addition to their other major upper-division writing requirement.
Notes:
- Students who need to take MAP 103 will be unable to take ECO 110 or ECO 111 in the first semester of the freshman year and will have to adjust their schedule accordingly.
- Economics is a quantitative social science. Students planning to use their background in economics for graduate studies or in their careers should take additional courses in mathematics and applied mathematics.
- A maximum of four courses in economics taken at other institutions may be applied toward the major.
SBC Courses
This table illustrates major courses that can also be used to fulfill SBC requirements. (See Note 1 & Note 2)
| SBC Category | Required Major Courses | Optional Major Courses (see Note 3) |
|---|---|---|
| ARTS | ||
| GLO | ||
| HUM | ||
| LANG (see Note 4) | ||
| QPS | AMS 151, MAT 125 | |
| SBS | ECO 110, ECO 111 | |
| SNW | ||
| TECH | ||
| USA | ||
| WRT | ||
| STAS | ECO 373 | |
| EXP+ | ECO 475, ECO 476, ECO 488 | |
| HFA+ | ||
| SBS+ | ECO 303, ECO 305 | ECO 327, ECO 334, ECO 355 |
| STEM+ | ||
| CER | ||
| DIV (see Note 5) | ||
| ESI | ||
| SPK | ||
| WRTD | ECO 359 | ECO 459 |
Note 1: Some course information may be subject to change. Please contact your major advisor for additional consultation.
Note 2: For majors that require study in a related area or completion of a minor, visit the
respective program’s “Major SBC Courses” page to view expanded SBC options.
Note 3: Denotes any course in which students can choose from more than one option. These
may include, but are not limited to, major electives, concentration/track/specialization
courses, or calculus/physics/chemistry sequences.
Note 4: CEAS majors, the Athletic Training major, the Respiratory Care major, and the Clinical
Laboratory Sciences major are exempt from the LANG learning objective. Students enrolled
in the major in Social Work are exempt from the LANG learning objective, but are required
to enroll in and pass with a letter grade of C or higher the first semester of an
elementary foreign language course numbered 111, or satisfy through alternate methods.
Note 5: Students are responsible for completing the general education requirements published
in the Bulletin that was current as of the first semester of matriculation (or rematriculation).
The following student groups must satisfy the DIV learning objective as part of their
degree requirements:
- Freshmen who matriculate in the Fall of 2019 or later
- Transfer students who matriculate in the Spring of 2020 or later
- Students who rematriculate in the Fall of 2019 or later
Sample Course Sequence
| Fall | Spring |
|---|---|
| Freshman | |
| First Year Seminar 101 — 1 credit WRT 101 — 3 credits ECO 110* — 3 credits MAT 122 or MAT 123 or AMS 151 — 3 credits SBC — 3 credits SBC — 3 credits Total: 16 credits |
First Year Seminar 102 — 1 credit WRT 102 — 3 credits MAT 125 or AMS 151 — 3 credits ECO 111 — 3 credits SBC — 3 credits SBC — 3 credits Total: 16 credits |
| Sophomore | |
| ECO 303 — 4 credits ECO 320 — 4 credits SBC — 3 credits ECO Elective — 3 credits Total: 15 credits |
ECO 305 — 4 credits ECO 321 — 4 credits SBC — 3 credits SBC — 3 credits Elective — 3 credits Total: 17 credits |
| Junior | |
| Upper-division ECO — 3 credits Upper-division ECO — 3 credits Upper-division Elective — 3 credits SBC — 3 credits SBC — 3 credits Total: 15 credits |
Upper-division ECO — 3 credits ECO Elective or other Approved Course — 3 credits Upper-division Elective — 3 credits SBC — 3 credits Total: 12 credits |
| Senior | |
| SBC — 3 credits SBC — 3 credits Upper-division Elective — 3 credits Upper-division Elective — 3 credits Elective — 3 credits Total: 15 credits |
Upper-division ECO — 3 credits ECO Elective or other Approved Course — 3 credits Upper-division Elective — 3 credits Elective — 3 credits Elective — 3 credits Total: 15 credits |
Note*: If students have precalculus. Otherwise, ECO 110 should be taken during the Spring semester.