College of Business

Master of Arts in Economics

The Degree

The Master of Arts in Economics program provides training in economic science to prepare graduates for professional positions in business, government, and education. Students receive training in the academic and applied skills necessary to establish and maintain a successful career or to prepare for further graduate work in economics or related fields.

The Program

The M.A. in Economics is earned upon completion of a minimum of 30 hours of graduate coursework. Students choose from two program options: thesis and non-thesis. In addition to the core courses, the thesis option requires 15 hours of economics coursework and 6 hours of thesis credit. Students electing the non-thesis option must complete 21 hours of economics coursework in addition to the core courses.

Required M.A. in Economics Courses
Course Number Title Hours
EC 8133 Econometrics I 3
EC 8163 Microeconomics I 3
EC 8173 Macroeconomics I 3
Elective M.A. in Economics Courses (15-21 hours)
Course Number Title Hours
EC 6223 Labor Law and Legislation 3
EC 6303 Theory of Economic Development 3
EC 6313 Introduction to Regional Economics 3
EC 6323 International Economic Development 3
EC 6333 Applied Regional Economics 3
EC 6423 Introduction to Public Finance 3
EC 6433 Problems in State and Local Finance 3
EC 6990 Special Topics in Finance 3
EC 7000 Directed Individual Study  
EC 8000 Thesis Research/Thesis  
EC 8103 Economics for Managers 3
EC 8113 Labor Theory and Analysis 3
EC 8143 Econometrics II 3
EC 8183 Industrial Organization 3
EC 8273 Macroeconomics II 3
EC 8323 Economic Analysis of Developing Nations 3
EC 8423 Public Finance 3
EC 8523 Seminar in the History of Economic Thought 3

All M.A. students prepare a program of study with consultation from the graduate advisor and a program committee. Students may choose to take field courses from a wide variety of areas within economics. With the permission of the graduate advisor, students may also elect to take major courses offered by the Department of Agricultural Economics.

Admission and Assistantships

An applicant must meet all University graduate admission requirements and achieve acceptable scores on each major section of the GRE (verbal, quantitative, and analytical). For full admission to the program, the student must have previously completed intermediate microeconomics and intermediate macroeconomics or otherwise demonstrate a thorough understanding of basic economic theory and an ability to perform graduate-level work in economics. Students from all undergraduate majors are invited to apply; however, it is highly desirable for prospective students to have completed additional economics, statistics, and mathematics courses before enrolling in the M.A. program. The department admits graduate students every other year; we are scheduled to admit new students for Fall 2013 and subsequent odd-numbered years. Note: Preference for funding and admission is given to students applying to the doctoral program.

Contact

For additional information about the MSU M.A. in Economics, please contact the Economics Graduate Advisor: