Navigating Economics

Your Time As An Aggie

YEAR 1:

The Department of Economics encourages students to begin their mathematics series, foreign language, and English requirement as soon as possible, along with Economics 1A or 1B. For students who are considering graduate study in Economics, Math 21A, 21B, 21C and 22A are strongly recommended.

Make sure to complete your calculus placement exam before enrolling.

It is recommended that you pursue general education courses concurrently with lower division prerequisite work for the major.

Students often have difficulty getting into one or more courses they want during their freshman and sophomore years, and it is recommended for students to be more flexible in making choices. We encourage you to review the course catalog for classes outside of the major that may be of interest to you. Remember, these courses will minimally count toward units needed for graduation.

YEAR 2:

You will begin pursuing upper division courses for the major at this time. As noted on the sample 4-year plan, taking ECN 100A, 100B and 101 in the same quarter is inadvisable. The department discourages students from taking any more than two upper division Economics courses within the same quarter. Make sure to track your upper division degree requirements and meet with an academic advisor regarding the design of your major as needed.

It is also recommended that you request a Degree Check from the College of Letters and Science Dean's Office. You can also do a self-check to track progress with your general education requirements.

If you are interested in studying abroad or pursuing internships, you may want to start accounting for these opportunities in your academic planning now.

YEAR 3:

At this time, you will begin focusing on the overall design of your degree. This means you will be focusing on courses that are of specific interest to you. Course recommendations can be made based on professional pathways, double majors, technical backgrounds, or even in preparation for graduate or doctoral studies.

SPECIALIZATION TRACKS

It is highly encouraged to look into which Specialization tracks, if any, you are interested in and begin to plan them into your academic plans. You are able to complete any one (1) Specialization track from the six offered in the Economics Department. 

ECONOMICS COURSES WITH DATA ANALYSIS

  1. ECN 132: Health Economics. Prerequisite: ECN 100A, 100B, ECN 102 or ECN 140 or ARE 106 or STA 108. Course description: The economics of health care and the U.S. health care market. 
  2. ECN 145: Economics of Transportation. Prerequisite: ECN 100A, 100B, MAT 16A/B (or equivalent), STA13; does not require ECN 102 but is more data-oriented, and ECN 102 is recommended. Course description: Examination of fundamental problems of planning and financing transportation infrastructure. 
  3. ECN 151B: Economics of Human Resources. Prerequisite: ECN 151A, does not require ECN 102 and does not analyze date; however this course does require reading many important papers that are essentially regression studies. Course description: Human capital theory and economics of education; theory of wage differentials, labor market discrimination, income distribution, and poverty. 
  4. ECN 152: Economics of Education. Prerequisite: ECN 100A, 100B, ECN 102 or any upper division statistics course, MAT 16A/B (or equivalent) with a C- grade or better. Course description: This course applies theoretical and empirical methods of economics to issues related to education and education policy.

REGRESSION AND STATISTICS CLASSES

An econometrics or regression course will cover the regression model in more detail. It will generally involve more derivations of formulae. Even after taking Analysis of Economics Data, students can benefit from taking additional courses. Regression courses on campus are:

  1. ECN 140: Econometrics (This course is optimal for Economics majors)
  2. ECN 141: Economic and Financial Forecasting
  3. ECN 142: Economics and Business Data Analytics
  4. STA 108: Applied Statistical Methods: Regression Analysis
  5. STA 137: Applied Time Series Analysis 
  6. STA 130A-B: Mathematical Statistics: Brief Course. *This is required for many graduate degrees.
  7. STA 108: Applied Statistical Methods: Regression Analysis
  8. STA 137: Applied Time Series Analysis

MINORS

Students who are interested in minoring in another program are encouraged to begin coursework for your minor(s) in your third year also. 

YEAR 4 AND BEYOND:

You are now in progress to complete the remainder of your degree. We urge you to meet with an undergraduate academic advisor to ensure that you are completing your major requirements. You also should meet with an academic counselor at the College of Letters and Science to complete a final degree check.

Consult the academic calendar to ensure that you meet all deadlines for petitions, which include filing to graduate and registering for commencement ceremonies. Remember, you may submit only one petition per academic quarter, and filing to graduate is considered a petition.

Forms can be submitted via the student portal in OASIS.