Dec 01, 2024  
Undergraduate Record 2024-2025 
    
Undergraduate Record 2024-2025

Economics, B.A.


Universal Curriculum Requirements


To be awarded a degree from the College of Arts and Sciences, students are required to complete universal curriculum requirements in addition to the program requirements provided below. The school universal curriculum requirements can be found on the school Degree Programs page .

Prerequisites for Declaring the Major


Students must complete the following prerequisites before declaring the Economics major. 


Complete at least two graded economics courses at the University of Virginia.


Economics GPA

  • Achieve an economics grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.3; the economics GPA is a weighted measure of all 2000 level or higher economics (ECON) courses taken at the University with the following exceptions:

      a. Grades received in courses taken outside the Unviersity’s Economics Department, such as transfer courses or direct credit courses offered through study abroad programs, are no included in the economics GPA.

      b. If a student is granted economics elective credit for a course taken in another school or department at the University of Virginia, the grade received in that course is not included in the student’s economics GPA.

      c. HIUS 2061 is cross-listed as ECON 2060, and HIEU 2051 was cross-listed as ECON 2050 until Spring 2015. ECON 2060 is (and ECON 2050 was) the same whether taught under history or economics numbers. A grade in HIUS 2061 (or HIEU 2051 tkaen before Spring 2015), therefore, would be included in the economics GPA.

      d. If a student fails and course then retakes it, both grades – the failing grade and the grade received on the retake – enter into the computation of the economics GPA. If a student has taken and passed a course, grades receive on any subsequent retake(s) are not included in the student’s economics GPA. 


Calculus

Complete calculus through calculus I (from the courses listed below) with a minimum grade of C+ in the calculus course.

  • Credits: 3
  • Credits: 4
  • Credits: 4
  •  

    a. Students who fail to obtain a C+ on their first attempt are permitted to try to meet the prerequisite a second time. Students who twice fail to obtain a grade of at least C+ in these courses, whether in the same or different courses, are ineligible to declare the economics major.  Students considering the concentration in financial economics or graduate work in economics are encouraged to take MATH 1310 and MATH 1320 (or APMA 1110 and APMA 2120) instead of MATH 1210 and MATH 1220.

     

    b. Pre­-matriculation transfer credit or a grade of C+ or above in MATH 1220, MATH 1320, or APMA 1110 will be accepted in lieu of calculus I to fulfill the prerequisite.  However, rule 3a still applies. Students who receive a grade below C+ in Calc I and choose to take Calc II instead of repeating Calc I are using up their second chance under rule 4a above. If they receive a grade below C+ in Calc II, they are ineligible for the major.

     

    c. Students who matriculate at the University with AP or transfer credit for one of the aforementioned calculus I or II courses are exempt from this prerequisite. Transfer credit cannot be used to satisfy this requirement after one has begun taking classes at the University.


    Intermediate Microeconomics

  • Complete one of the following with a minimum grade of C+

  • Credits: 4
  • Credits: 4
  •  

    • Students who fail to obtain a C+ on their first attempt at completing ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) are permitted to retake ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) once. Those who fail to get a grade of at least C+ in two attempts are not eligible to declare an economics major.
    • Credit is not given for both ECON 3010 and ECON 3110, and these courses are considered the same course for the purposes of this requirement.
    • Students who have transfer credit for ECON 3010 at the time that they matriculate at the University are exempt from this prerequisite. Transfer credit cannot be used to satisfy this requirement after one has begun taking classes at the University.

    Statistics

    Complete one of the following courses with a minimum grade of C+.

  • Credits: 4
  • Credits: 3
  • Credits: 3
  • Credits: 3
  •  

    a. Students who fail to obtain a C+ on their first attempt are permitted to try to meet the prerequisite a second time. Students who twice fail to obtain a grade of at least C+ in the statistics courses listed above, whether in the same or different courses, are ineligible to declare the economics major.

     

    b. Students who matriculate at the University with AP or transfer credit for one of the aforementioned statistics courses are exempt from this prerequisite. Transfer credit cannot be used to satisfy this requirement after one has begun taking classes at the University.

     

    NOTE: Students declaring in their 6th semester must have either completed or already registered for ECON 3720 or ECON 4720 (STAT 3220, if completed before Fall 2013, is also acceptable). Students declaring after their 6th semester must have already completed ECON 3720 or ECON 4720 (STAT 3220, if completed before Fall 2013, is also acceptable).

Declaring the Major


1. Review your student record to make sure you have completed all the prerequistes - the grades must be posted on SIS. If any prerequisites are in progress, you are not yet eligble to declare. 

2. Request a guide from the Undergraduate Program Coordinator in the Economics Department on how to complete the online declaration form. The coordinator is also available by email and appointment to answer questions.

3. Complete and submit the DocuSign major delcaration form (available on the Forms Directory of the College of Arts & Sciences website) per the instructions in the guide. 

4. Check your Student Information System (SIS) account 5 days after submitting the form to confirm the major has been entered and that a major advisor has been assigned. If the major has not been entered, contact the Undergraduate Program Coordinator in the Economics Department. 

NOTE: You are not declared until you have completed all four steps. Students are responsible for confirming the major has been entered into SIS. 

Program Requirements


  • Students must achieve at least a 2.0 economics GPA in order to graduate.
  • Students who finish their sixth semester with an economics GPA below 2.0 will be dropped from the major. 
  • Certain courses can be transferred towards the major after a student starts at UVA (post-matriculation), however, certain restrictions apply. For more details, please see the Transfer Credit section on the department’s website. 
  • Transfer students must meet all prerequisites. They cannot automatically declare the major. Third-year transfer students considering the economics major are strongly advised to contact the Undergraduate Program Coordinator before selecting courses. 
  • No course taken credit/no credit may be used to satisfy major and concentration requirements.
  • Students who declare their economics major after Fall 2011 must complete at least four courses in economics at the University of Virginia to graduate as economics majors, whatever transfer credit they may have received for work done elsewhere. For purposes of this rule, any class taught at the University of Virginia in another school or department of the University that is routinely accepted for major credit can be counted towards the total of four courses.  

Core Requirements


Students must complete the following five required courses:

Elective Courses


  • Students must complete 4 elective economics courses, each of which must be at least 3 credit hours. 
    • At least 2 courses must be numbered 4000 or above and no more than one 2000 level elective. 
  • No economics courses numbered 1000-1999 may be used towards the economics major.

Concentrations in Economics


The Economics Department offers concentrations in Financial Economics, Industrial Organization, International Economics, and Public Policy.

  • Concentrations are optional, but economics majors whose interests are heavily focused on one of the following areas may want to declare a concentration.
  • Courses taken for a concentration are also considered major electives, unless the course is already specifically required for the major (i.e. Intermediate Microeconomics, Econometrics).
  • Students should keep in mind that elective courses applicable to a concentration are not guaranteed to be offered on a consistent basis.
  • Elective courses taken for a concentration may not be shared with another concentration.  In other words, the concentration must stand alone with its own set of elective courses.
  • Concentrations must be declared in the student’s 7th term at latest.

Students with questions about a concentration should contact the Undergraduate Program Coordinator.


How to Declare a Concentration:

1. Review your transcript to make sure you have completed all the prerequisites (if any). 

2. Contact the Undergraduate Program Coordinator. 

3. The Undergraduate Program Coordinator will provide the reqirued declaration form by email. When the form has been filled out and approved via email, the Undergraduate Program Coordinator will send the completed form to your school’s registrar where it will be entered into your student record.

4. Check your Student Information System (SIS) acount 5 days after completing the form to confirm the concentration has been entered. If the concentration has not been entered, contact the Undergraduate Program Coordinator in the Economics Department.

NOTE: You are not declared until you have completed all four steps. Students are responsible for confirming the concentration has been entered into SIS.

Concentration in Financial Economics


Goals

The concentration aims to provide an academic grounding in financial markets and financial decision making – to teach you how economic theory and econometric methods can be combined to analyze economic phenomena in general and in particular the core issues in financial decision-making. The finance concentration is the most technically challenging of the department’s concentrations. It requires a high level of mathematical and econometric knowledge. Students should be very comfortable applying the tools of calculus to applied problems. Students are also expected to be comfortable with computer programming. 


Structure

The concentration is composed of two parts. Students first take a core set of economics courses as well as COMM 2010 (financial accounting). These courses provide a broad background in financial economics. These courses have long been offered in the economics department and are taught at a level accessible to all economics major. 

The second part is the preparation for and completion of the capstone course, ECON 4360: Empiricial Finance. The prerequisite for this course is ECON 4720: Econometric Methods. ECON 4720 is needed because ECON 4360 will rely heavily on econometric tools. Half of ECON 4360 will teach students the theoretical basis of the stochastic discount factor (SDF) methodology for pricing assets. The second part of the class will teachs tudents how to use the General Method of Moments (GMM) econometric framework for estimating and testing the validity of a variety of SDF models.


Who Should Take the Financial Concentration?

The concentration should be of interest to a variety of students.  Those who plan to go on to Ph.D. level work in either economics or finance, or masters level work at quantitative finance MBA programs, will benefit from the advanced financial theory and econometric tools we learn and apply.  Those who do not have plans for further post graduate study, but who are intellectually curious about finance, will find their curiosity sated.  Students heading for quantitative Wall Street jobs will benefit from studying the formal modeling and econometric methods.


Notes on Coursework

Completing the concentration requires that one plan in advance.  Because COMM 2010 is generally taken by pre-Commerce students, first and second year students are given priority in registering for the class.  You may find it impossible to register for COMM 2010 if you wait until your third year to take it.  ECON 4720 must be completed before starting ECON 4360.  While linear algebra is not required for the concentration, concepts of linear algebra appear (and are taught) in ECON 4720 and ECON 4360.  Students are required to complete a linear algebra course (MATH 3350 or MATH 3351 or APMA 3080) prior to attempting ECON 4720.

Prerequisites for Declaring the Concentration


Students must complete one course from the following list:

Requirements for Completing the Concentration


In addition to meeting the ordinary requirements for the major, students must:

Concentration in Industrial Organization


The industrial organization concentration has as its focus on the exercise of market power by firms and the strategic interaction between firms. Courses in the concentration use theoretical and empirical analysis to explore a wide variety of issues related to the functioning of markets and related public policies. In combination with the major requirements, the concentration prepares students for careers in business, law, and consulting.

Requirements for Completing the Concentration


To complete the concentration, students must meet the ordinary requirements for the major, and complete:

Concentration in International Economics


The international economics concentration is designed for ambitious majors with a keen interest in global economic policy. The core course requirements, ECON 4210 and ECON 4220, develop basic literacy in empirical techniques and international economic theory in international trade and macroeconomics. The remaining course electives allow students to specialize further in economic development (ECON 4230, 4610, 4620) or area studies (ECON 3630, 3640, 4410). Many students combine the international concentration with a study abroad program or with the foreign affairs major.  Recent graduates have gone on to work for international governmental and non-governmental organizations, master’s degree programs in international studies or public policy, law school, and business school.

Requirements for Completing the Concentration


To complete the concentration, students must meet the ordinary requirements for the major and complete:

Concentration in Public Policy


Economics is highly relevant for public policy as well as private business decisions.  Among the topics of interest in microeconomics are the wide range of effects of specific taxes, expenditure programs, and regulations.  The courses in the public policy concentration apply general theoretical models for explaining how individuals and organizations respond to changes in their circumstances to predict the qualitative effects of existing and proposed government programs, and they introduce empirical evidence on the quantitative magnitudes of these effects. 

The concentration also develops the abilities of its students to critically evaluate arguments for particular government actions.  It provides majors with the type of training that will enable them to compete successfully for the best junior analyst positions in governments, public policy research firms, and other organizations and for admission into the leading graduate programs in public policy.  It should also appeal to students with a strong interest in public policy who intend to pursue careers in related areas such as law.

Requirements for Completing the Concentration


To declare a concentration in public policy before his or her last year at the University, an economics major must have completed:

Distinguished Majors Program


The Distinguished Majors Program brings the best undergraduates together in their fourth year to learn from each other, enter the intellectual life of the Department of Economics, discover the anture of research in economics, and write a thesis. Applications are due in March of the student’s third year. Applicants should have a strong overall academic record, with a cumulative grade point average in economics that is at least 3.6 at the time of application.

Specific requirements of the program include: 

  1. Each student must take the Distinguished Majors Seminar (ECON 4990) in the fall of the fourth year.
  2. Each student will complete a DMP thesis (ECON 4999), independent research under the supervision of an economics faculty member. The thesis is due in April.

Department recommendations for Distinction, High Distinction, and Highest Distinction will be based on:

a. quality of the thesis

b. overall work in the Distinguished Majors Program

c. overall work in economics

d. overall college record.

Additional Information


The Department of Economics is located in Monroe Hall. The mailing address is P.O. Box 400182, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4182. The department’s web address is www.virginia.edu/economics. If you have further questions about undergraduate study in economics, please contact the Undergraduate Program Coordinator or Director of Undergraduate Studies.