Economics Major, BS

Print Degree Planner (opens a new window) |

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)

Course Number	Course Title	Credit Hours
ECO 2311	Principles of Microeconomics (GE)	3
ECO 2312	Principles of Macroeconomics (GE)	3
Choose one of the following approved courses
QBA 2325	Business & Economic Statistics	3
MAT 2326	Elementary Statistics (GE)	3
SOC 2326	Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences (GE)	3
PSY 2326	Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences (GE)	3
Total		9

BREADTH COURSES (9 credit hours)

Course Number	Course Title	Credit Hours
ECO 3313	Intermediate Microeconomics	3
ECO 3314	Intermediate Macroeconomics	3
ECO 3316	Applied Econometrics & Forecasting	3
Total		9

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

A students who has at least two years of the same foreign language may use the last three courses in the foreign language sequence as fulfillment of the elective requirements for the concentration. A student with one year of a foreign language ma substitute the second semester of the foreign language for one of the elective courses listed in the depth section of major. The first semester of the first year of the foreign language course sequence may not be used to satisfy any part of this concentration.

ECO 4384 - International Economics

Any three of the following:

ECO 3315 - Economics of East Asia

ECO 3332 - Economic Growth and Devt.

ECO 3320 - Global Economic Systems

ECO 4331 - Money and Banking

BUA 2350 - Fundamentals of International Business

FIN 3368 - International Finance

Political Economy Concentration

BLA 2325 - Business Law I

POS 3355 - Criminal Law or POS 4369 - Constitutional Law (prerequisite: POS 2311 - American Government 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

Honors Program

Other Requirements

Optional for student wishing to pursue departmental honors:

To earn departmental honors, students must:

Request admission into the Economics Honors Program. Students applying for admission must have completed or must be currently taking Principles of Microeconomics (ECO 2311 ) and Principles of Macroeconomics (ECO 2312 ). Students who have requested admission must receive a grade of at least B in both courses and receive a recommendation for admission from a majority of the Economic Faculty. They must also identify a faculty mentor who has agreed to take the student under his or her tutelage.
Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and a major GPA of at least 3.25 with no grade in the major lower than a B.
Complete ECO 4350 , Directed Honors Research Investigation in Economics (SLO: CR), and receive a grade of at least a B in that course. If a student takes the departmental honors route, he or she will not have to take ECO 4301 – Applied Business Economics. Note: this means that departmental honors requires a minimum of 36 credit hours, not 33 credit hours, to complete.
Complete an Honors Thesis by enrolling in Honors Thesis, Research/Creative Project (HON 4300 ). The honors thesis is in addition to other courses required for the major. To be considered for departmental honors, the Honors Thesis must comport with the following guidelines:
A student is required to write a senior thesis in an area that reflects the student’s depth interest. A student with an international economics concentration must write a senior thesis in international economics. A student with a legal and political studies concentration must write a thesis in legal studies or in political economy. A student with a general economics concentration will have to discuss the potential thesis topic with her or his advisor to ensure that the chosen courses form a coherent whole and decide on a topic that fits with those courses prior to writing the thesis. The student also must orally defend his or her thesis before the economics faculty on or before the final day of classes (SLO: OC, WC).