Career-Specific Courses of Study in Economics

The various curricula below are suggested courses of study. They are not required. The suggestions aim to provide some general preliminary guidance for those planning for any of the four objectives defined below. There are certainly courses in disciplines not specified that may be more appropriate depending upon each student’s preferences. Faculty in the Economics Department are willing and eager to work with students on an individual basis to address particular needs.

A. Law School

Students planning for Law School are encouraged to enhance the Economics Department’s course requirements by choosing several upper-level electives from the English, Philosophy, or Political Science Departments. Courses from those departments, which require writing assignments as a significant proportion of the course grade, are most strongly recommended.

Economics Department electives with content related to legal matters and include:

  • EC 246 Forensic Economics
  • EC 244 The Economics of Sports
  • EC 211 Economics of Labor Unions
  • EC 317 Economics and the Law
  • EC 329 Industrial Organization
  • EC 321 Economics of Health Care

B. Graduate School in Economics or Finance

Students planning to do graduate work in economics or finance normally will elect additional courses after consulting with a faculty member in the department. Mainstream graduate programs rely heavily on the use of advanced mathematics, and are highly selective. As a result, students should obtain a strong background in mathematics.

Highly recommended Mathematics Department courses are four semesters of Calculus (MA 125-126, 261-262) and a semester of MA 251 Linear Algebra.

Choosing to complete the Honors Program in Economics as well as choosing EC 242 Econometrics before senior year are especially important for graduate school bound students. 

Other strongly recommended Economics courses:

  • EC 337 Mathematical Economics, and
  • EC 341 Forecasting

Students are encouraged to consider electives that rely heavily on the application of Intermediate Microeconomic or Macroeconomic Theory.

Examples of some courses with Microeconomic foundations:

  • EC 239 Industrial Orgainzation
  • EC 305 Public Sector Economics

Examples of some courses with Macroeconomic foundations:

  • EC 309 Money and Banking
  • EC 333 Monetary Theory and Policy
  • EC 343 International Finance
  • EC 401 Portfolio Management

C. Business School

Students planning for graduate business school for an MBA or a Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) are encouraged to enroll in:

  •  BA 203 Financial Accounting
  • BA 311 Intermediate Accounting I 
  • BA 312 INtermediate Accounting II

Economics Department electives related to business school preparation that are strongly recommended include:

  • EC 242 Econometrics
  • EC 309 Money and Banking
  • EC 333 Monetary Theory and Policy
  • EC 329 Industrial Organization
  • EC 331 Business Organization
  • EC 335 Managerial Economics
  • EC 343 International Finance
  • EC 401 Portfolio Management 

D. Financial Market Occupations

Students who are interested in financial market related occupations in either the private sector (e.g. financial services and investment industry, economic consulting industry) or the public sector (e.g. The Federal Reserve Bank, The Department of Revenue, The Bureau of Labor Statistics) are encouraged to enroll in the following courses to prepare for the advanced data analysis in these occupations:

  • EC 242 Econometrics, and
  • EC 341 Forecasting

Advanced theoretical training courses include:

  • EC 309 Money and Banking
  • EC 333 Monetary Theory and Policy
  • EC 343 International Finance
  • EC 401 Portfolio Management
  • EC 329 Industrial Organization
  • EC 305 Public Sector Economics

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