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 grade point average of 2.00 (on a 4.00 scale) and the approval of the department undergraduate advisor.

University Requirements

120 credit hours with a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or better
Completion of college writing requirement
Completion of university mathematics requirement

General Education Requirements

A total of ten courses, consisting of two courses from each of the five foundational areas
At least one course from Area Five: The Natural and Mathematical Sciences must include a laboratory science component
No more than two courses may be taken in the same discipline

Major Requirements

37 credit hours with grades of C or better
- 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 ECON-300 Intermediate Microeconomics and ECON-400 Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus
- Students may not receive credit for ECON-301 Intermediate Macroeconomics and ECON-401 Intermediate Macroeconomics with Calculus
Tracks
- General
- International: requires demonstration of intermediate level or higher competence in one modern foreign language

Course Requirements

Core (16 credit hours)

Capstone (3 credit hours)

Complete one of the following:

ECON-480 Senior Research Seminar (3)
ECON-491 Internship (1-6) (3 credit hours required)
ECON-492 Internship in Teaching Economics (3)
Study abroad course with emphasis in economics or political economy at or above the 300-level (3)

Tracks (18 credit hours)

Complete the General or International track:

General

18 credit hours in economics courses (ECON-xxx) at or above the 300-level
- Up to 3 credit hours at or above the 300-level may be taken outside of the Economics Department 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
- Students may take no more than two of the following: ECON-361 Economic Development , ECON-362 Microeconomics of Economic Development , and ECON-363 Macroeconomics of Economic Development
- Students may take no more than two of the following: ECON-370 International Economics , ECON-371 International Economics: Trade , and ECON-372 International Economics: Finance

International

Required

One of the following:

Additional Economics Courses

6 credit hours of additional economics courses (ECON-xxx) at or above the 300-level, excluding ECON-370 International Economics (3)
- Students may take no more than two of the following: ECON-361 Economic Development (3) , ECON-362 Microeconomics of Economic Development (3) , and ECON-363 Macroeconomics of Economic Development (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 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 BA in Economics with a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or higher.