Economics, BA

Economics (BA) Offered by the Department of Economics, College of Arts and Sciences. Admission to the Program Formal admission to the major requires a grade point average of 2.00 (on a 4.00 scale) and the approval of the department undergraduate advisor. 120 credit hours with a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or better Completion of college writing requirement Completion of university mathematics requirement General Education Requirements A total of ten courses, consisting of two courses from each of the five foundational areas At least one course from Area Five: The Natural and Mathematical Sciences must include a laboratory science component No more than two courses may be taken in the same discipline Major Requirements 37 credit hours with grades of C or better. No more than 6 of the 37 credit hours may be fulfilled by Washington Economic Policy Semester courses or economics courses from study abroad programs. No more than 3 credit hours of independent reading and study courses or internships may be applied to the major. Students may not receive credit for ECON-300 Intermediate Microeconomics and ECON-400 Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus. Students may not receive credit for ECON-301 Intermediate Macroeconomics and ECON-401 Intermediate Macroeconomics with Calculus. Tracks: General or International. For the International track, demonstration of intermediate level or higher competence in one modern foreign language. Course Requirements Core (16 credit hours) ECON-100 Macroeconomics FA4 (3) ECON-200 Microeconomics FA4 (3) ECON-300 Intermediate Microeconomics (3) or ECON-400 Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus (3) ECON-301 Intermediate Macroeconomics (3) or ECON-401 Intermediate Macroeconomics with Calculus (3) STAT-202 Basic Statistics (4) or STAT-203 Basic Statistics with Calculus (4) Capstone (3 credit hours) ECON-480 Senior Research Seminar (3) or ECON-491 Internship (1-6) (3 credit hours required) or ECON-492 Internship in Teaching Economics (3) or Study abroad course with emphasis in economics or political economy at the 300-level or higher (3) Tracks (18 credit hours) Complete the General or International track. General 18 credit hours in economics courses (ECON-xxx) at the 300-level or above. Note: Of these 18 credit hours, 3 credit hours at the 300-level may be taken outside of the Economics Department with the advisor's approval if the course is closely related to economics. Students may not receive major credit for both ECON-370 International Economics and SISU-300 Introduction to International Economics. Students may take no more than two of the following: ECON-361 Economic Development (3) ECON-362 Microeconomics of Economic Development (3) ECON-363 Macroeconomics of Economic Development (3) Students may take no more than two of the following: ECON-370 International Economics (3) ECON-371 International Economics: Trade (3) ECON-372 International Economics: Finance (3) International Required ECON-371 International Economics: Trade (3) ECON-372 International Economics: Finance (3) One of the following: ECON-351 Comparative Economic Systems (3) ECON-361 Economic Development (3) ECON-362 Microeconomics of Economic Development (3) ECON-363 Macroeconomics of Economic Development (3) ECON-458 Economics of the World Regions (3) (topics) ECON-552 Economics of Transition (3) One of the following: IBUS-300 Fundamentals of International Business (3) SISU-320 Topics in Global Economy (3) Additional Economics Courses 6 credit hours of additional economics courses (ECON-xxx) at the 300-level or above, excluding ECON-370 International Economics Students may take no more than two of the following: ECON-361 Economic Development (3) ECON-362 Microeconomics of Economic Development (3) ECON-363 Macroeconomics of Economic Development (3) Combined BA and MA in Economics American University offers students the opportunity to earn both undergraduate and graduate degrees through its combined bachelor's/master's programs. See Combined Bachelor's and Master's Degrees for more information. This program enables qualified students to earn, in a continuous plan of study, both the BA in Economics and the MA in Economics. Requirements Interested students should apply to the program in their junior year. Students in this program will not be required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Students will be admitted formally to MA status only after they have completed all requirements for the BA in Economics with a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or higher. All requirements for the BA in Economics. Undergraduate students may apply up to 9 credit hours of approved graduate-level coursework in economics to satisfy the requirements of both degrees. All requirements for the MA in Economics, including a minimum of 18 credit hours completed in residence in graduate status after the undergraduate degree has been awarded. Students must finish the master's degree requirements within three years from the date of first enrollment in the master's program.