Major

For information on declaring the Economics major, please visit Declaring Econ Major/Minor.
 

Major Course Requirements

The following requirements apply to Economics primary majors entering the university Fall 2018 or later. For students who entered the University prior to Fall 2018, schedule an appointment to meet with an Academic Advisor in the Department of Economics to confirm requirements. Students who are pursuing a double major or a dual degree who do not have Economics listed as their primary major in SPIRE are not required to complete an Economics IE or JYW course, as these should be completed in the student's primary major.

1.  One of the following core microeconomics courses:
ECON 103 – Intro to Microeconomics
RES-ECON 102 – Intro to Resource Economics

2.  One core macroeconomics course:
ECON 104 – Introduction to Macroeconomics

3.  One of the following introductory calculus courses:
MATH 127 – Calculus I for Social Science and Life Science majors (most Econ majors take this course)
MATH 131 – Calculus I (for those pursuing additional majors or minors in STEM fields like Math, Computer Science, Engineering, etc.)

4.  One of the following second level calculus or econometrics courses:
MATH 128 – Calculus for the Life and Social Sciences II
MATH 132 – Calculus II (for STEM majors/minors)
ECON 201 – Introductory Econometrics (pre-requisites include a Calc I and an Intro Stats course below)

5.  One of the following courses in statistics:
RES-ECON 212 – Intro to Stats/Social Science
STATS 240 – Intro to Statistics
STATS 501 – Methods in Applied Statistics
STATS 515 – Statistics I
PSYCH 240 – Statistics in Psychology
OIM 240 – Business Data Analysis
EDUC 240 – Introduction to Educational Statistics

6.  One of the following intermediate microeconomics theory courses:
ECON 203 – Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
RES-ECON 202 – Price Theory (most seats in this course are reserved for majors from the Resource Economics Department, and are not available to Economics majors)

7.  One intermediate macroeconomics theory course:
ECON 204 – Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory

8.  Junior Year Writing (JYW), fulfilled by the following course (not required for Econ secondary majors):
ECON 365 – Writing in Economics (formerly ECON 397W)

All sections of ECON 365 fulfill the Junior Year Writing requirement. 

9.  Four (4) upper-level ECON courses: 3 credits each, numbered 205 or higher. For primary majors only, one upper-level must be an Econ Integrative Experience (IE) class, fulfilled by one of the following courses (these courses are only open to Econ primary majors until the first day of classes each term):

IE course options for Econ primary majors

ECON 306 – History of Economic Thought  
ECON 367 – Post Independence African Development
ECON 394AI - Fundamentals of International Political Economy
ECON 394CI – The Economics of Cooperative Enterprise
ECON 394EI - Economics and Ethics
ECON 394FI – Finance and Society
ECON 394IO – Industrial Organization Perspectives
ECON 394LI – Law and Economics 
ECON 494MI - Correcting Market Failures (not currently offered on a regular basis)
ECON 499C – Honors Thesis Seminar – 1st Semester (for Honors students)
ECON 499D – Capstone Course – 2nd Semester (for Honors students)

• Econ 201 may be used as an upper-level if it is not used to fulfill the number 4 requirement above.
• One Resource Economics department upper-level course may be used, but no more. 
• Only one upper level independent study may be used. 
• Only one Honors thesis seminar may be used (for Honors students). 

10.  Complete the Economics International and Intercultural Requirement (IIR). Pick one option below :  

1. Complete 3 courses (at least 3 credits each) from the International and Intercultural Course List (double dipping is not allowed - you cannot use courses to satisfy this requirement that you are using for your UMass General Education requirements; you also may not use Economics upper level classes on the IIR class list to cover both IIR requirements and upper level Econ course requirements)
2. Complete 3 courses/9 credits in a single foreign language. 
3. Complete 2 courses/6 credits in a single foreign language plus 1 course from the International and Intercultural Course List 
4. Complete a Certificate in one of the following:  African Studies, Asian and Asian American Studies, International Agriculture, International Relations, International Scholars Program, Translation and Interpreting Studies, Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies.
5. Complete a Study Abroad program from a UMass International Programs Office approved program (you must take at least 8 credits worth of courses). 

This requirement applies to students entering UMass Fall 2018 or after; others who entered before Fall 2018 should consult an Econ advisor to discuss different requirements.

11.  Complete either Econ Option A -OR- Option B below:

Option A – Two (2) additional upper-level ECON courses, 3 credits each, numbered 205 or higher (Econ 201 may be used if it is not also used for the number 4 requirement above).

Option B – A collateral field of study, fulfilled by completing one of the following:

1. Any UMass Amherst minor, additional major, or certificate (that is not Economics or Resource Economics).
2. Any five (5) business courses in the Isenberg School of Management (3 credits each, numbered 200 or higher). Seats are available for Econ major sophomores and above in the following UMass business courses:
   • ACCT 221 Principles of Financial Accounting
   • ACCT 222 Principles of Managerial Accounting
   • SOM 260 Introduction to Business Law
   • FIN 301 Corporation Finance (pre-requisite ACCT 221 or 233)
   • MKT 301 Fundamentals of Marketing
   • MGM 301 Principles of Management 
3. Any five (5) courses in a specially approved collateral field of study, authorized in advance by an Economics advisor: 
   • This option is approved rarely, and mostly for students who are pursuing options like the Pre-Med, Pre-Dental or Pre-Health tracks, that don't yield an official minor/certificate.
   • Approved courses must be at least 3 credits each. 
   • The courses must be in a coherent field of study with relevance to Economics, as determined by an Economics advisor. 
   • All courses included in the collateral plan must be preapproved by an Economics advisor before enrolling in them.
   • No approved collateral field courses for this requirement may also be used to satisfy other Econ major requirements (however, approved collateral field courses can be used to fulfill UMass General Education requirements). 
   • Resource Economics courses cannot be used to fulfill this requirement.

Additional Guidelines

Grading and other Requirements

• No course required for the Economics major may be taken Pass/Fail. 
• A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 must be earned in courses applied to Economics major requirements. 
• An overall minimum grade point average of 2.0 must be earned in courses applied to either Econ Major Option A or Econ Major Option B.
• A minimum of four of the nine required ECON courses must be taken in the Department of Economics at UMass Amherst.

Independent Study, Honors Thesis, and Internship (Practicum), and non-content Credit

• No more than one Independent Study and one Honors Research/Thesis seminar course may count toward Economics major requirements. 
• Internship (Practicum) credit ​(any course number containing 98) does not count toward Economics major requirements.
• Non-content skill courses, such as ECON 491I-Job Skills for Economics Majors, do not count toward the major.

Isenberg School of Management Courses
The Department of Economics is a Contracting Department with the Isenberg School of Management.  Contracting Department means that Economics majors are eligible to register for designated Isenberg courses (listed below) through SPIRE, where the course Restrictions/Notes in SPIRE note that section of the course as open to Contracting Departments, categories 1, 2, 3, or 4 (i.e. Contracting Departments -3, Contracting Departments 1-4), and all course prerequisites are met.

The following courses are designated as Contracting Department courses in Isenberg for the Department of Economics:
ACCOUNTG 221 – Principles of Financial Accounting
ACCOUNTG 222 – Principles of Managerial Accounting
FINANCE 301 – Corporation Finance (pre-requisite ACCT 221 or 233)
ISENBERG 260 – Introduction to Law (previously MANAGMNT 260)
MANAGMNT 301 – Principles of Management
MARKETNG 301 – Fundamentals of Marketing

Economics majors who wish to enroll in Isenberg courses that are not listed above should see the Isenberg course override request information:  https://www.isenberg.umass.edu/programs/undergraduate/on-campus/advising/course-override-form

Isenberg manages enrollment in all Accounting (ACCOUNTG), Finance (FINANCE), Hospitality and Tourism Management (HT-MGT), Management (MANAGMNT), Marketing (MARKETNG), Operations and Information Management (OIM), School of Management (SCH-MGT) and Sport Management (SPT-MGT) courses.  Questions regarding enrollment in all Isenberg courses should be directed to:

Isenberg Undergraduate Programs Office
Isenberg Hub, Room N230
​@email

Resource Economics
Resource Economics and Economics are two separate academic departments, majors, and minors.  One RES-ECON course, 3-4 credits, from the following list may fulfill either one of the required four upper-level ECON courses (see 10. above under Requirements) or one of the required upper-level ECON courses in Option A (see 11. above under Requirements):
RES-ECON 262 – Environmental Economics
RES-ECON 263 – Natural Resource Economics
RES-ECON 312 – Introduction to Econometrics
RES-ECON 313 – Quantitative Methods in Applied Economics
RES-ECON 324 – Small Business Finance
RES-ECON 397A – Economics of Contemporary Information Technology
RES-ECON 428 – Managerial Economics
RES-ECON 452 – Industrial Organization in Resource Economics
RES-ECON 453 – Public Policy in Private Markets
RES-ECON 462 – Experimental Economics
RES-ECON 470 – Family Economic Policy: Issues and Implications
RES-ECON 472 – Advanced Topics in Resource and Environmental Economics

Questions regarding enrollment in all Resource Economics courses should be directed to the Department of Resource Economics.  Contact information is provided at https://www.umass.edu/resource-economics/advising.

Secondary Majors, Double Majors, Dual Degrees
There are different requirements depending on whether a student is completing Economics as a primary major, secondary major, double major, or dual degree.  Below is a brief summary, but students should meet with an Economics advisor to ensure that they are meeting all requirements.

• Students pursuing a double major, with Economics as a primary major, may satisfy the Junior Year Writing (JYW) requirement with an approved JYW course from their secondary major, but must have the substitution approved by an Economics advisor. The IE requirement must be satisfied by an approved Economics IE course and generally cannot be satisfied by a course from the secondary major.
• Students pursuing a double major, with Economics as a secondary major, are not required to complete the IE requirement or JYW in Economics but must satisfy these requirements with courses in their primary major.
• Students pursuing a dual degree (150 credits, two Bachelor degrees) must complete the IE requirement and junior year writing requirement only for the major that is listed as their primary major in SPIRE.