May be elected as a departmental concentration program

Effective Date: Fall 2011

Honors revisions effective Fall 2012

Prerequisites to the Concentration

ECON 101 and 102 and MATH 115, each completed with a grade of at least C. One of the Honors alternatives to MATH 115 may be substituted for MATH 115. Advanced placement credits in MATH 121 may be substituted for MATH 115. Credits in MATH 120 alone do not satisfy the mathematics prerequisite for an economics concentration or academic minor. Students with credit for MATH 120 may satisfy the mathematics prerequisite for the Economics concentration by completing, with a grade of at least C, MATH 115, MATH 116, or one of the Honors alternatives to these courses.

Students with a serious interest in the study of economics are strongly encouraged to continue the study of calculus beyond MATH 115. MATH 116, 215, and 217, or their Honors equivalents, are recommended for students with an interest in quantitative economics. Students with a serious interest in economic research should elect ECON 405 (or STATS 426) and ECON 406.

Schedule an appointment with an economics concentration advisor to declare an economics concentration. Students must complete the prerequisites to the concentration before declaring and must have a GPA of at least 2.0 in the concentration.

Concentration Program

An economics concentration plan must include:

  1. ECON 401 (Intermediate Microeconomics) and ECON 402 (Intermediate Macroeconomics), each completed with a grade of at least C-;
  2. Statistics. One of the following: ECON 404 (Statistics for Economists), ECON 405 (Introduction to Statistics), or STATS 426 (Introduction to Mathematical Statistics); and
  3. Electives: 15 additional credits in upper-level (300 and 400 level) ECON courses, including at least nine credits taken from courses with ECON 401 or ECON 402 as a prerequisite. ECON 406 also counts toward these nine credits.

 

Ann Arbor campus requirement: Any concentration courses to be taken outside the Ann Arbor campus of the University should be approved in advance by an economics concentration advisor. At least 12 credits in the concentration plan, including ECON 401, ECON 402, and at least 3 of the credits in upper-level economics electives in courses with ECON 401 or ECON 402 as a prerequisite, must be taken at the Ann Arbor campus.

 

Students who have completed ECON 405  or STATS 426 are strongly encouraged to include ECON 406 (Introduction to Econometrics) as one of the electives in their concentration plan. Note that MATH 116 (Calculus II) is a prerequisite for ECON 405 and that MATH 215 (Calculus III) and MATH 425 / STATS 425 (Introduction to Probability) are prerequisites for STATS 426.

ECON 401, 402, and statistics are prerequisites to many upper-level economics courses and should be elected during the sophomore or junior year. ECON 401 should be elected before ECON 402.

Honors Concentration

Qualified students are encouraged to consider an Honors concentration in Economics. The standards for admission are a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5 and evidence of outstanding ability in economics. Application is made and admission is granted to the Honors concentration during the first term of the junior year.

Honors concentrators are required to complete the requirements for a regular concentration in Economics. An Honors concentration plan must include ECON 405 (or STATS 426) and ECON 406. In addition, Honors concentrators must complete a senior Honors thesis. The senior Honors thesis includes original work completed by the student under the direction of a faculty advisor and the Director of the Honors Program in Economics. Honors concentrators are given priority in election of one section of ECON 495 (Seminar in Economics).

 


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