Economics Major, BS

Program Description

The major program in economics is designed to prepare students for graduate studies in economics, law, and business, as well as careers in many areas of business, industry, and government. Banking, research and consulting organizations, financial institutions, insurance companies, not for profit agencies and government are among the many job options for economics majors. The WSSU economics faculty is committed to effective teaching, expanding intellectual knowledge in their fields and improving our local community. Concentrations are available in general economics, business economics, international economics, and political economy, which allow WSSU students to broaden their horizons and make them more marketable in the surrounding area and beyond. The courses required for the major of economics instill competence in essential economics principles, and require students to think critically and defend ideas both in oral and written argument. The major in Economics is an ideal program of study for students planning on attending Masters or Doctoral programs immediately following their completion of the Bachelor’s degree.

Student Learning Outcomes

The learning goals of the economics major are:

1. Effective Economic Policy Communication: Students will be able to prepare and deliver effective policy presentations or papers where key ideas, findings, and recommendations are presented in a thoughtful and logical manner utilizing economic models (Written Communications; Oral Communications)

2. Effective Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Students will be able to objectively recognize and apply appropriate theoretical frameworks to economic issues/problems (Critical Thinking)

3. Quantitatively Literate Research and Application: Students will be able to summarize and discuss the impact of various economic variables using a real-world problem (Quantitative Literacy)

Major Requirements

The major requires a minimum of 33 semester hours (SH) of required courses, of which 9 SH may be used to satisfy general education requirements.

There are four concentrations within the economics degree program: general economics, business economics, international economics, and political economy. Each concentration has 12 SH of unique courses.

FOUNDATION COURSES (9 credit hours)

ECO 2311 - Principles of Microeconomics (GE) 3 hrs

ECO 2312 - Principles of Macroeconomics (GE) 3 hrs

QBA 2325 - Business & Economic Statistics (prereq MAT 1312 ) 3 hrs

MAT 2326 - Elementary Statistics (GE) 3 hrs

SOC 2326 - Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences (GE) 3 hrs

PSY 2326 - Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences (GE) 3 hrs

BREADTH COURSES (9 credit hours)

ECO 3313 – Intermediate Microeconomics (prereq ECO 2311) (SLO: QL, WC) 3hrs

ECO 3314 – Intermediate Macroeconomics (prereq ECO 2312) (SLO: CT) 3 hrs

ECO 3316 – Applied Econometrics & Forecasting (prereq QBA 2325 OR MAT 2326 OR SOC 2326 OR PSY 2326 ) 3 hrs

DEPTH COURSES (15 credit hours)

These courses, called areas of concentration, offer a “deeper” dive” into one of the breadth areas of the discipline and culminate in the applied economics course.

ECO 4301 – Applied Economics

In addition, students must choose one of the following four concentrations consisting of 12 SHs:

General Economics Concentration

While the general economics concentration offers the most flexibility, it also requires greater advising responsibilities. As such, a student who wish to pursue a general economics concentration must make arrangements with her or his advisor to select appropriate courses to support the desired applied economics paper and to ensure a coherent whole.

ECO – Any 3000 or 4000 level Economics Course

ECO/FIN – Any 3000 or 4000 level Economics course or another approved course in Finance, Geography, or Political Science

Business Economics Concentration

ACC 2316   - Principles of Financial Accounting
FIN 3351   - Principles of Financial Management
MGT 2321   - Principles of Management
MKT 2331   - Principles of Marketing

International Economics Concentration

MGT 3350 – International Business

Any three of the following:

ECO 4331 – Money and Banking

ECO 4384 – International Economics

ECO 3332 – Economic Growth and Development

ECO 3320 – Global Economic Systems

FIN 3368 – International Finance

Political Economy Concentration

BLA 2325 – Business Law I

POS 3355 – Criminal Law or POS 4369 – Constitutional Law (prerequisite: POS 2311 with C- or better)

Any two of the following:

ECO 3353 – Comparative Economic Systems

ECO 3330 – Law and Economics

ECO 3331 – Economics of Crime, Corruption and Terrorism