Economics (B.A.)

An undergraduate degree in economics prepares students with the quantitative and qualitative skills to think critically and learn how to make optimal decisions. Students will learn by doing with a curriculum taught by nationally acclaimed economists and faculty. The BA program has a qualitative focus with a foreign language requirement.

Admissions Requirements

• If you’re a senior in high school or if you graduated from high school within the last two years, you’ll apply to begin your bachelor’s degree program using Georgia State’s Common Application. Find out more about applying.
• International students: International applicants are those students who are in the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa (B-1, H-1, J-1, etc.); students who are living outside the U.S. and who will require an F-1 visa to study in the United States; students who are in the process of applying for Permanent Residency status, but have not yet received the Permanent Residency card; or students who have been educated outside of the U.S. Learn more about the application process.
• Transfer students: If you’re already in college but need a change, transferring to Georgia State can provide you with the opportunities you need to succeed — in school and after graduation. 
• The B.A. program has a qualitative focus with a foreign language requirement.  Along with the foreign language sequence requirement a minor is required for the B.A. program.

The curriculum includes:

• 42 hours of undergraduate core curriculum (Areas A – E)
• 18 hours of courses appropriate to the major (Area F)
• 24 hours of major common course curriculum (Area G)
• 6 hours of Policy/Business courses (Area H)
• 15 hours of declared minor courses (Area I)
• 15 hours of elective courses of which 6 hours must be at the 3000/4000 level (Area J)
• Total of 120 credit hours

Goals & Outcomes

• The Department of Economics is ranked first in Georgia, ninth among 33 southeastern programs and 50th in the U.S., according to a recent issue of the Southern Economic Journal, with considerably higher national rankings in the subfields our faculty selected as primary areas of concentration, including: eighth in Urban, Rural and Regional Economics; 11th in Public Economics; 20th in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; and 23rd in Labor and Demographic Economics. The department also got high marks in general Economics and teaching (14th), methodology and History of Economic Thought (16th).

Careers

• Graduates of the Economics programs have accepted positions at Hartfield Philips Incorporated, SunTrust Bank, Emory Law, the Tax Foundation, the Federal Reserve and the OECD Secretariate in Paris, as well as various internships at the FDIC, the Fed, Georgia Department of Labor, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta and Z.Yen (London). Students who have pursued graduate studies have been accepted to the University of Pennsylvania Law School, M.A. programs at American University and Columbia University, and Ph.D. programs at the University of North Carolina, Miami University, George Washington University and Georgia State.