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Nov 21, 2024
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2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog
Economics Major, BS
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 Return to: Undergraduate Programs
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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.
Business Economics Concentration
International Economics Concentration
A student in the international economics concentration who takes 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 may substitute the second semester of the foreign language for one of the elective courses listed in the depth section of the 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.
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.
- Any 3000 or 4000 level ECO course
- Any 3000 or 4000 level ECO course
- Any 3000 or 4000 level ECO, FIN, GEO, or POS course
- Any 3000 or 4000 level ECO, FIN, GEO, or POS course
- ECO 4301 - Applied Economics Credits: 3 hrs
Political Economy Concentration
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).
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