Economics
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Total Credits
Program Graduation Requirements
Complete a minimum of 48 doctoral-level course credit hours (plus 14 thesis hours), including listed required courses.
Complete all course work with a C- or better. Complete Econ 7590 and Econ 7800 with a B or better. Complete Econ 7400 or 7600 or 7601 with a B- or better.
Pass qualifying exams in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Political Economy before the start of the third year.
Defend dissertation within seven years from first enrollment in the program.
Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in all course work.
All Ph.D. students are expected to be enrolled full-time during their first year. Typically they will be enrolled in 12 credit hours in the fall semester and 9 or 12 semester hours in the spring semester.
Students may substitute one doctoral-level course from outside Economics for one of their Economics electives, with prior approval of the Director of Graduate Studies. In some instances, independent study courses (Econ 7950) and special topics courses (Econ 7960) may count toward the elective requirement.
To facilitate the transition from coursework to original research, all second- and third-year students are required to participate in the research workshops organized by the faculty. These workshops will vary in detail but typically reflect the department’s emphases in inequality, globalization, and sustainability. Students and faculty participating in each workshop discuss their developing research, host visiting researchers, and explore emerging topics in their fields.
As part of their active participation in these workshops students are required to submit a research idea to their research workshop by the end of the Spring semester of their second year. Students must have an extended research abstract approved through their research workshop by the end of their third year. This proposal is then refined and developed in consultation with the faculty, with the goal of producing a publishable research product and/or a dissertation proposal. Completion of these requirements carries 3 hours of credit under Econ 7900. Students will typically enroll in Econ 7900 in the Spring semester of their third year.