Coursework

The graduate school requires 20 courses (60 hours) for the Ph.D. degree.  The department requires 11 core courses, 6 field/elective courses, and 3 economic research courses (ECO 7000).  Students with prior graduate work may transfer in courses as specified in the Graduate Catalog; however, no transfer credit will be given for any of the 11 core courses.  All core courses in economics must be passed with minimum grade of C- to count toward the degree.

The eleven core couses are as follows:

          ECO 5311            Macroeconomic Theory and Policy (Macroeconomics I)

          ECO 5312            Microeconomic Analysis (Microeconomics I)

          ECO 5313            Mathematical Economics I

          ECO 5314            Econometrics I

          ECO 5318            History of Economics

          ECO 6312            Microeconomics II

          ECO 6313            Microeconomics III

          ECO 6322            Macroeconomics II

          ECO 6323            Macroeconomics III

          ECO 6332            Econometrics II

           ECO 6333           Econometrics III

These core courses should be completed before any field courses or approved electives are taken.  Exceptions may be made with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.  Currently the department offers the following field and / or elective courses:  

Field or Elective Courses

          ECO 5316            Time Series Econometrics

          ECO 5317            Natural Resources and Environmental Economics

          ECO 5319            Advanced Topics in Environmental Economics

          ECO 5321            Labor Markets Theory and Policy

          ECO 5322            The Economics of Wages and Income

          ECO 5324            Seminar in Public Finance

          ECO 5325            Seminar in Economic Policy

          ECO 5328            Monetary Theory 

          ECO 5329            Current Problems in Public Finance

          ECO 5332            Advanced Internantional Finance

          ECO 5333            Advanced International Economics

          ECO 5346            Game Theory

          ECO 5347            Industrial Organization Theory

          ECO 5348            Seminar in Empirical Industrial Organization

          ECO 5356            Energy Economics

          ECO 5357            Forecasting and Applied Macroeconomics

          ECO 5358            Macroeconomics of Economic Development

          ECO 5375            Topics in Labor Economics

          ECO 6353            Consumption and Investment:  Microfoundation and                                                                                                      Aggregate Dynamics

These courses are usually offered on a two-year cycle but note that because at least five students are required in order to offer a course, not all field/elective courses may be offered at a given time unless there is sufficient interest among current students. 

The required sequence of core and field courses is as follows (unless an exception is made by the Director of Graduate Studies):

Year 1:    Fall Semester        ECO 5311, ECO 5312, ECO 5313, ECO 5314

                 Spring Semester   ECO 6312, ECO 6322, ECO 6332, ECO 5318 

Year 2:    Fall Semester        ECO 6313, ECO 6333, one field/elective course

                 Spring Semester   ECO 6323, two field/elective courses 

Year 3:    Fall Semester        Two field / elective courses, one research                                                                                            course

                 Spring Semester   One field / elective course, two research                                                                                              courses

Years 4 and 5:                         ECO 8000 (Dissertation hours)  

                          

Degree Plan

Students need to fill out a degree plan in their second or third regular semester.  The degree plan lists the courses that are going to be used to fulfill the coursework requirements discussed above.  The plan may be changed with relatively little hassle, but it should be kept up to date because when the time comes to graduate, the Graduate School will check the degree plan against the courses the student has actually taken.