ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Applicants are required to submit three letters of recommendation, a statement of interest, official transcript(s) delivered and/or mailed in a sealed envelope by the Registrar of the college/university attended, and the most recent Graduate Record Examination scores.

All students admitted to the M.A. program must have at least a Bachelor of Arts degree or its equivalent, a cumulative GPA of B or better, a minimum of 24 undergraduate credits in economics, plus a course in differential calculus or mathematics for economists. The economics credits should include 6 credits of statistics and 6 credits of intermediate economic theory. Special admission with some conditions will be considered on individual basis.

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RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS

A student must be physically in residence in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for at least two semesters in order to be recommended for the MA degree. The residency requirement implies a student complete two semesters of full-time course work (see also the Graduate School requirements).

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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Graduate assistantships are available for full-time M.A. students and carry a stipend. Students receiving such assistantships are required to take at least 12 credits per semester. Applications for assistantships should be sent to the chairman of the Department of Economics.

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DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

The MA program has a course structure similar to that of the Ph.D. program, although it requires fewer credits. Students must complete a total of 36 credits, including:

• 15 general course requirements
• ECOG-200: Microeconomic Theory: Consumer, Producer and Value Theory
• ECOG-202: Macroeconomic Theory: Advanced Macro-statics and income Determination
• ECOG-204: History of Economic Analysis
• ECOG-210: Advanced Statistics
• ECOG-211: Econometrics I: Theory and Methods
• ECOG-213: Mathematics for Economist I: Mathematical Methods and Static Optimization
• 6 credit hours of thesis work
• 15 credit hours in the area of concentration

Students who do not wish to write a thesis must take 6 additional credits of course work, 3 of which must be the seminar in the area of specialization. Each thesis will be directed by an advisor, read by at least one other faculty member, and followed by an oral defense.

Students must pass the comprehensive examinations, offered in February and September, which cover the following three areas: price theory, macroeconomic theory, and an area of specialization. The student may elect to take the examinations in all areas or take the theory examinations first and the field of specialization at another time. If a student chooses the latter, he or she must pass the theory examinations before taking the field of specialization at the next sitting. Students may also choose to write a research paper in lieu of the examination in the field.

There is no language requirement.

Areas of Specialization and Course Requirements

Development Economics

• ECOG-220: Development Economics I : Theory of Economic Development
• ECOG-266: Development Economics II : Economic Development Policy and Planning
• ECOG-228: Development Economics III : Seminar in Development Economics
• Two elective courses in Development Economics
• One elective course in Economics

Urban Economics

• ECOG-230: Urban Economics I: Theory and Public Policy
• ECOG-231: Urban Economics II: Real Estate Market, Environment and Externalities
• ECOG-237: Urban Economics III: Seminar in Urban Economics
• ECOG-232: Economics of Housing and Urban Development
• ECOG-233: Economics of Health Services
• ECOG-235: Urban Transportation
• ECOG-242: The Economics of Government Subsidies
• ECOG-250: Cost Benefit Analysis
• Two elective courses in Development Economics
• One elective course in Economics

Monetary/Fiscal Economics

• ECOG-271: Monetary Economics I: Theory of Demand for Money and Monetary policy
• ECOG-272: Monetary Economics II: Advanced topics in Monetary Theory and Applications
• ECOG-273: Monetary Economics III: Seminar in Monetary and Fiscal Economics

and three courses from

• ECOG-240: Public Finance
• ECOG-241: Fiscal Policy
• ECOG-242: The Economics of Government Subsidies
• ECOG-245: International Commercial Policy
• ECOG-249: International Economics: Theory of International Finance
• ECOG-250: Cost Benefit Analysis
• ECOG-274: Financial Intermediation

Human Resources Economics

• ECOG-261: Human Resource Economics I: Advanced Studies in Human Resource Economics
• ECOG-262: Human Resource Economics II: Topics in Human Resource Economics
• ECOG-263: Human Resource Economics III: Seminar in Human Resource Economics

and three courses from

• ECOG-233: Economics of Health Services
• ECOG-234: Economics of Poverty and Manpower
• ECOG-247: Manpower Policy and Problems
• ECOG-248: Industrial Organizations and Public Policy
• ECOG-250: Cost Benefit Analysis
• ECOG-251: Comparative Study of Social Security Systems
• ECOG-263: Seminar in Human Resources

International Economics

• ECOG-244: International Economics I: Trade Theory
• ECOG-245: International Economics II: Theory of International Finance
• ECOG 245: International Economics III: Seminar in the Theory of Commercial Policy
• ECOG-220: Development Economics I : Theory of Economic Development
• ECOG-240: Public Finance
• ECOG-248: Industrial Organization and Public Policy
• ECOG-250: Cost Benefit Analysis
• ECOG 274: Financial Intermediation
• Two elective courses in Development Economics
• One elective course in Economics

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