UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

Major and Minor

An economics major, leading to a Bachelors degree in economics, consists of 32 credit hours in economics. Required courses include Principles of Economics (ECO 2010 and 2020), Intermediate Microeconomics (ECO 5000), Intermediate Macroeconomics (ECO 5050), and Introductory Statistics and Econometrics (ECO 5100). Other courses are electives, but students must choose at least three courses from two or more of the following fields: industrial organization, international economics, labor and human resources, public finance, economic development, money and banking, and urban and regional economics. Transfer students wishing to major in economics must take at least 16 of the 32 credit hours at Wayne State .

An economics minor consists of 20 credit hours in Economics. These must include Principles of Economics (ECO 2010 and 2020), and three elective courses at the 5000 level and above. The minor complements fields in the behavioral sciences, as well as computer science, engineering, and pre-law disciplines. Transfer students wishing to minor in economics must take at least 12 of the 20 credit hours at Wayne State .

Students who major or minor in economics and who score a "4" or "5" on the Advanced Placement Examination in Economics will be exempt from enrolling in ECO 2010 and ECO 2020.  The credits from these courses will be applied to the major or minor.

For information on courses offered, click Undergraduate Courses.

Economics majors with strong academic records and an interest in research are urged to apply to the Undergraduate Director for admission to the Honors Program in Economics.

Requirements are:

Those who successfully complete these requirements and finish their undergraduate course work with an overall H.P.A. of 3.3 or above will graduate with the degree designation, "With Honors in Economics."

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Department of Economics have established an accelerated combined undergraduate and graduate program (AGRADE) whereby qualified seniors may enroll simultaneously in some undergraduate and graduate programs of the College. A maximum of fifteen credit hours may be applied towards both undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics. Those who elect the AGRADE program may expect to complete the Bachelors and Masters degrees in five years of full-time study. For further information, go to the following website: http://www.econ.wayne.edu/AGRADE.htm.

The Economics Department makes available a small number of $500 scholarships each year. These are awarded to declared majors who have taken a minimum of 16 credit hours of Economics courses and who have not applied for graduation and have not completed their requirements for the major. The scholarships are awarded on the basis of the student's Grade Point Average in his or her Economics courses. The winners in the 2004-2005 academic year were Dana Armon, William C. Blasses, Joseph P. Ciaravino, and William H. Tuthill.  The Department anticipates awarding 3-4 scholarships in the 2005-2006 academic year

Eligible students may join Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international honor society in Economics. To be eligible for membership, candidates must have an overall University H.P.A. of 3.0 and have completed at least 12 credit hours in Economics with an H.P.A. of 3.0. Students must pay a nominal membership fee and will receive a membership scroll and a one-year subscription to the American Economist. The primary purpose of Omicron Delta Epsilon is to recognize scholastic achievement in economics. For further information about Omicron Delta Epsilon, see their website http://www.cba.ua.edu/~ode/.  Students wishing to join should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Economics majors have a wide choice of courses and careers. Many supplement their majors with cognate courses to prepare for careers in business, journalism, health care administration, or public service. Other undergraduate majors find economics to be an excellent preparation for law school. For example, past majors in our Department include David Overton (B.A. 1967), who is the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of the Cheesecake Factory, the ninth largest restaurant company in the United States; Ted Amsden (B.A. 1972), who is a senior partner in the Detroit law firm of Dykema Gossett PLLC; and Anna Kuzmik (B.A. 1991), who received her law degree from Harvard University in 1994 and is now practicing law in Washington DC.  Alexei Alexandrov (B.A. 2003) was admitted to the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University .  At the local level, for example, Robin West-Smith (B.A. 2003) works for the City of Detroit 's Information Technology Services Department, and Tanisha Holmes (B.A. 2003) works for General Electric in Southfield .

Undergraduates who want to undertake graduate work at the Ph.D. level in economics need a good mathematics background and are encouraged to take the Mathematics 2010 sequence as early as possible. Ph.D. graduates are in demand at universities, corporations, financial institutions and government agencies. M.A. graduates may teach at junior colleges but more typically go into business or public service .

Economists are now being found in places that few would have anticipated until recently. More and more high schools are offering economics courses, and some are requiring them. A degree in secondary education emphasizing math and economics is especially attractive to many school districts. Nonprofit agencies, such as the Sierra Club or Greenpeace are employing more economists, since market-based solutions to environmental problems are now being accepted by environmentalists. Finally, with increased economic integration throughout the world, even small firms need to be aware of import competition and the prospect for export markets. The global economy is extraordinarily complex, requiring careful analysis and planning -- the sort of thing done best by economists.

Here is a capsule summary of careers in economics:

Work in the Corporate World :

Work for Non-Profits and Government :

Law :

Academia :

The table below lists average salary offers to new graduates by undergraduate major.

Average Starting Salary Offers in 2003-2004 for Bachelor's Degree Candidates by Major

 The following table shows the median starting salary and the median base salary for economists in 2002:

Source: National Association for Business Economics, Salary Characteristics, 2002

Annual Earnings by Selected Professions in 2000