Economics (BA)

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Offered by the Department of Economics , College of Arts and Sciences .

Admission to the Program

Formal admission to the major requires a minimum 2.00 cumulative GPA and the approval of the department undergraduate advisor.

University Requirements

120 credit hours with minimum 2.00 cumulative GPA (Undergraduate Academic Regulation 2 )
Completion of all requirements for a major (Undergraduate Academic Regulation 9 )

AU Core Requirements

Completion of AU Core foundation requirements (Undergraduate Academic Regulation 8.2-8.6 )
Completion of AU Core Habits of Mind requirements (Undergraduate Academic Regulation 8.7 )
Completion of AU Core integrative course requirements (Undergraduate Academic Regulation 8.8-8.11 )

For additional information, see AU Core Curriculum .

Major Requirements

37 credit hours with grades of C or better, including 27 credit hours at or above 300-level
- No more than 6 of the 37 credit hours may be fulfilled by Washington Economic Policy Semester courses or economics courses from study abroad programs
- No more than 3 credit hours of independent reading and study courses or internships may be applied to the major
- Students may not receive credit for both ECON-300 and ECON-400
- Students may not receive credit for both ECON-301 and ECON-401

Course Requirements

Required (6 credit hours)

Microeconomics (3 credit hours)

Complete 3 credit hours from the following:

Note: ECON-150 is intended for Kogod School of Business students.

Intermediate Microeconomics (3 credit hours)

Complete 3 credit hours from the following:

Intermediate Macroeconomics (3 credit hours)

Complete 3 credit hours from the following:

Statistics (4 credit hours)

Complete 4 credit hours from the following:

Capstone (3 credit hours)

Complete 3 credit hours from the following, or 3 credit hours of study abroad coursework with emphasis in economics or political economy at or above 300-level:

ECON-480 Senior Research Seminar (3)
ECON-491 Internship (1-6) (3 credit hours required)
ECON-492 Internship in Teaching Economics (3)

Tracks (15 credit hours)

Complete one of the following tracks:

General

15 credit hours in ECON-XXX at or above 300-level
- Up to 3 credit hours at or above 300-level may be taken outside of the Department of Economics with the advisor’s approval, if the course is closely related to economics. Students may not receive major credit for both ECON-370 International Economics and SISU-300 Introduction to International Economics
- No more than 6 credit hours may be applied to the major from the following: ECON-361 Economic Development , ECON-362 Microeconomics of Economic Development , and ECON-363 Macroeconomics of Economic Development
- No more than 6 credit hours may be applied to the major from the following: ECON-370 International Economics , ECON-371 International Economics: Trade , and ECON-372 International Economics: Finance

International

Note: International track requires demonstration of intermediate level or higher competence in one modern foreign language.

Required (6 credit hours)

Economics (3 credit hours)

Complete 3 credit hours from the following:

International Business (3 credit hours)

Complete 3 credit hours from the following:

Additional (3 credit hours)

Note: Students may take no more than 6 credit hours from the following: ECON-361 Economic Development (3) , ECON-362 Microeconomics of Economic Development (3) , and ECON-363 Macroeconomics of Economic Development (3) .

3 credit hours of additional ECON-XXX at or above 300-level, excluding ECON-370 International Economics (3)

Combined Economics (BA) and Economics (MA)

American University offers students the opportunity to earn both undergraduate and graduate degrees through its combined bachelor’s/master’s programs. See Admission to a Combined Bachelor’s / Master’s Program and Combined Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees for more information.

In addition to meeting the minimum university requirements for combined bachelor’s/master’s programs:

Students in this program will not be required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Students will be admitted formally to MA status only after they have completed all requirements for the Economics (BA) with minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA