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The Bachelor of Arts in Economics

Total Course Requirements for the Bachelor's Degree: 120 units

See Bachelor's Degree Requirements in the University Catalog for complete details on general degree requirements. A minimum of 40 units, including those required for the major, must be upper division.

A suggested Major Academic Plan (MAP) has been prepared to help students meet all graduation requirements within four years. You can view MAPs on the Degree MAPs page in the University Catalog or you can request a plan from your major advisor.

General Education Pathway Requirements: 48 units

See General Education in the University Catalog and the Class Schedule for the most current information on General Education Pathway Requirements and course offerings.

  • ECON 495 is an approved GE Capstone substitution.

Diversity Course Requirements: 6 units

See Diversity Requirements in the University Catalog. Most courses taken to satisfy these requirements may also apply to General Education .

Literacy Requirement:

See Mathematics and Writing Requirements in the University Catalog. Writing proficiency in the major is a graduation requirement and may be demonstrated through satisfactory completion of a course in your major which has been designated as the Writing Proficiency (WP) course for the semester in which you take the course. Students who earn below a C- are required to repeat the course and earn a C- or higher to receive WP credit. See the Class Schedule for the designated WP courses for each semester. You must complete the GE Written Communication (A2) requirement before you may register for a WP course.

Course Requirements for the Major: 51-53 units

Completion of the following courses, or their approved transfer equivalents, is required of all candidates for this degree.

Major Core Courses: 27-28 units

6 courses required:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
Prerequisites: ECON 103.
Prerequisites: ECON 102.
Prerequisites: ECON 102 or ECON 103, MATH 105 or faculty permission.
Prerequisites: Completion of ELM requirement.

1 course selected from:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Written Communication (A2) requirement, ECON 102, ECON 103, ECON 301, ECON 302, and senior status.
Prerequisites: Admission to Honors in Economics Program, completion of GE Written Communication (A2) requirement, ECON 301 or ECON 302, permission of instructor.

1 course selected from:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Pathway Foundation Quantitative Reasoning.

1 course selected from:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
Prerequisites: Completion of ELM requirement; MATH 118, MATH 119 (or High School equivalents).
Prerequisites: Completion of ELM requirement; both MATH 118 and MATH 119 (or high school equivalent); a score that meets department guidelines on a department administered calculus readiness exam must be achieved by those who claim high school equivalence.

OR (the following course may be substituted for the above)

Any upper-division ECON course that is not taken to satisfy any other requirement for the economics major.

Economics Area Electives: 12-13 units

Choose two of the following areas. Take two courses from each of the two areas selected.

International Economics Electives:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
Prerequisites: ECON 103.
Prerequisites: ECON 301.
Prerequisite: ECON 302.

Environmental Economics and Public Policy Electives:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
Prerequisites: ECON 103.
Prerequisite: ECON 301.
Prerequisite: ECON 301.

Financial Economics Electives:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
Prerequisites: ECON 102.
Prerequisites: ECON 302.
Prerequisites: FINA 307.

Quantitative Economics Electives:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
Prerequisites: ECON 301, ECON 302, ECON 380.
Prerequisites: ECON 302; ECON 380 or equivalent.
Prerequisites: MATH 120.

Economics Upper Division Electives: 12 units

Choose any four 300-400 level elective Economics courses not used to satisfy the discipline electives requirement. At least one course must be a 400 level course.

Electives Requirement:

To complete the total units required for the bachelor's degree, select additional elective courses from the total University offerings. You should consult with an advisor regarding the selection of courses which will provide breadth to your University experience and possibly apply to a supportive second major or minor.

Double Majors

Please contact the Economics Department for advising regarding the use of economics courses to complete a second major.

Grading Requirement:

All courses taken to fulfill major course requirements must be taken for a letter grade except those courses specified by the department as Credit/No Credit grading only.

Advising Requirement:

Advising is mandatory for all majors in this degree program. Consult your undergraduate advisor for specific information.

If you are considering economics graduate programs, additional math and statistics courses beyond the courses listed in the quantitative economics area are recommended.

Honors in the Major:

Honors in the Major is a program of independent work in your major. It requires 6 units of honors course work completed over two semesters.

The Honors in the Major program allows you to work closely with a faculty mentor in your area of interest on an original performance or research project. This year-long collaboration allows you to work in your field at a professional level and culminates in a public presentation of your work. Students sometimes take their projects beyond the University for submission in professional journals, presentation at conferences, or academic competition. Such experience is valuable for graduate school and professional life. Your honors work will be recognized at your graduation, on your permanent transcripts, and on your diploma. It is often accompanied by letters of commendation from your mentor in the department or the department chair.

Some common features of Honors in the Major program are:

  1. You must take 6 units of Honors in the Major course work. All 6 units are honors classes (marked by a suffix of H), and at least 3 of these units are independent study (399H, 499H, 599H) as specified by your department. You must complete each class with a minimum grade of B.
  2. You must have completed 9 units of upper-division course work or 21 overall units in your major before you can be admitted to Honors in the Major. Check the requirements for your major carefully, as there may be specific courses that must be included in these units.
  3. Your cumulative GPA should be at least 3.5 or within the top 5% of majors in your department.
  4. Your GPA in your major should be at least 3.5 or within the top 5% of majors in your department.
  5. Most students apply for or are invited to participate in Honors in the Major during the second semester of their junior year. Then they complete the 6 units of course work over the two semesters of their senior year.
  6. Your honors work culminates with a public presentation of your honors project.

While Honors in the Major is part of the Honors Program, each department administers its own program. Please contact your major department or major advisor to apply.

In addition to the common requirements for the Honors in the Major program given above, the Honors in Economics program includes the following:

  1. The professor of ECON 499H must recommend you.
  2. You must submit an application for this program. Please contact the Economics Department.
  3. Students who are admitted to the department's Honors in the Major program must complete 3 units of ECON 410, ECON 431, ECON 435, ECON 462, ECON 466, ECON 470, ECON 481, or ECON 483 with a grade of B or better. Unless other arrangements are made, the professor instructing the above course becomes your faculty mentor for that semester. In this course, you will define a research problem or performance area and develop an Honors Research Project/Thesis proposal in preparation for work in ECON 499H. Additional mentoring by the instructor assigned to ECON 499H will take place during the spring semester only. Note that you will not need to take ECON 495 if you take ECON 499H. Thus Honors in the Major does not increase the total units required for the Economics major.
  4. You must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 in your senior year.
Catalog Cycle:16