Economics : Academic Bulletin

Programs by Campus

Indianapolis

Economics

School of Liberal Arts

Departmental E-mail: teamgrad@iu.edu

Departmental URL: liberalarts.indianapolis.iu.edu/departments/economics

(Please note that when conferring University Graduate School degrees, minors, certificates, and sub-plans, The University Graduate School’s staff use those requirements contained only in The University Graduate School Bulletin.)

Curriculum

Curriculum
Courses
Faculty

Degrees Offered

Master of Science, Dual Master of Science in Economics and Master of Arts in Philanthropic Studies, Doctor of Philosophy

Master of Science

The Master of Science in economics has a twofold objective: (1) to provide students with analytical capabilities and research skills for careers in business, government, and the nonprofit sector; and (2) to prepare those who wish to pursue a Ph.D.

Special Departmental Requirements

(See also general University Graduate School requirements.)

Admission Requirements

Three letters of recommendation are required, preferably from those familiar with the applicant’s academic career. Foreign applicants are required to take either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Testing System (IELTS). The minimum requirements for admission are 79 on the TOEFL or 6.5 on the IELTS. Students with scores of less than 100 on the TOEFL or 7.5 on the IELTS are required to take an on-campus exam for English proficiency prior to their first semester of course work and may be required to take additional classes in English as a second language. We also accept successful completion of ELS 112 in lieu of a TOEFL or IELTS score for admission.

Course Requirements

Students must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate work that will come primarily from the economics department. Students may take up to six credit hours of graduate level courses outside of the economics department with the approval of the Director of Graduate Programs.

Grades

The student must receive at least a C (2.0) in each course and must average at least a B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) for all courses taken.

Dual Degree: Master of Science in Economics and Master of Arts in Philanthropic Studies

The dual master’s degree in economics and philanthropic studies substantially benefits students intending to pursue a career in independent research, academia, or practice. Normally, those pursuing a career in research or academia continue in a Ph.D. program in economics, finance, accounting, management, marketing, or public policy. Very few doctoral programs include substantial content on philanthropy or nonprofit organizations. As such, the M.A. in philanthropic studies provides a broad interdisciplinary background that makes the future researcher sensitive to the institutional details, values, and history of the sector, thus leading to better research. For the future nonprofit manager or leader, economics provides the principles and methodologies to make informed decisions on the appreciative level, the policy level, and the managerial level.

Admission requirements for the dual degree program are identical to those for each program separately. Separate application must be made to each of the two programs. Students are expected to take responsibility for learning about and meeting the admission requirements of each school individually, which may differ from each other in application documents required, minimal standards of criteria for admission, and deadline dates. Students must make plans early with advisors in both programs to identify (1) common courses and (2) thesis credit.

Study for the two degrees can be combined for a total of 51 credit hours rather than the 66 credit hours that would be required if the two degrees were taken separately. Two of the required core courses for the M.S. in economics may be selected as electives to meet the Philanthropic Studies Program requirement for two applied electives. One of the required philanthropic studies courses, ECON E514 The Nonprofit Economy and Public Policy, may be taken to meet 3 of the 12 credit hours of economics electives required in the economics program. A common thesis meets the requirements of both departments.

Further information regarding regulations governing advanced degree programs may be obtained from the respective departments.

5-year Dual BA-MS Degree

Students entering their senior year as undergraduate economics majors may apply for the 5-year BA-MS degree. This program is also 30-hours and requires many of the same courses as does the standard MS program. Requirements for admission are the same as those for the standard MS.

Doctor of Philosophy Degree

Program Information

The PhD program is designed to (i) advance knowledge concerning health; (ii) develop the skills essential for our graduates to conduct independent research in this areas.

Special Departmental Requirements

(See also general University Graduate School requirements.)

Ph.D. Admission Requirements

Applicants should have completed a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. Ordinarily, applicants should have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in their undergraduate course work and in the major. Before undertaking Ph.D. graduate study in economics, a student is required to have completed coursework covering undergraduate univariate and multivariate calculus (equivalent to MATH-M165, M166, and M261 at IU Indianapolis), a calculus-based statistics course or a course in Statistics and one in Econometrics (equivalent to ECON E270 and E470 at IU Indianapolis), Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (equivalent to E321 at IU Indianapolis) and Linear Algebra (equivalent to Math-M351 at IU Indianapolis). The verbal, quantitative, and analytical portions of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) are required, and applicants are urged to complete the examination by December of the year before admission is desired. Requests to substitute GMAT scores for GRE scores will be considered. Three letters of recommendation are required. Students with English as a second language who have not attended school in the U.S. are required to take either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). For IELTS, applicants must take the academic reading and writing modules. A minimum TOEFL score of at least 88 is required though successful applicants generally score at least 100. The minimum acceptable IELTS score is 6.5 though successful applicants generally score at least 7.5.

Fields of Study

Fields of study currently available within the department are health economics and nonprofit/philanthropic economics. Students must take this field as well as the course sequence in econometrics.

The required courses for the health economics field are ECON-E 643 and ECON-E 644. A secondary field in economics may taken, if approved by the DGS or Economics Department Chair. A secondary field would require 6 credit hours of graduate level economics courses—3 credit hours at the 500+ level and 3 credit hours at the 600+ level. If a secondary field is taken, then those 6 credit hours of secondary field courses can replace ECON-E 522 and the fourth registration in the workshop seminar (ECON-E 744) in the degree requirements.

Course Requirements

A total of 90 credit hours:

includes the theory sequence: ECON-E 520, ECON-E 521, ECON-E 611, ECON-E 621,
the health economics sequence: ECON-E643 and ECON-E644,
and the econometrics-statistics sequence ECON-E 571, ECON-E 573, ECON-E 577, ECON-E 578, ECON-E 670, and ECON-E 673.
Students will take two secondary field courses in economics approved by the Economics DGS or Department Chair (3 credit hours at the 500+ level and 3 credit hours at the 600+ level course). At the discretion of the DGS or Department Chair, they may substitute ECON-E 522 and a fourth enrollment in the workshop seminar.
In addition, starting in their third year, students must formally enroll in a workshop course for a minimum of three semesters. Student may cease to register for the workshop seminar after four semesters if they have either accumulated the required 90 credits or defended their PhD thesis.

There is a minimum requirement of 60 credit hours of course work, including standard Economics courses, Economics workshop courses, and minor courses. The remaining courses may be taken as thesis credits. A total of 90 credits overall are required for the PhD. Per the policies of the University Graduate School, students may be able to transfer in 30 credits of prior graduate courses including master’s studies following review and approval of the program director and the Graduate School.

Minor

In addition to the formal coursework in Economics the prospective Ph.D. candidate must complete a structured minor in a related area. For those with a primary field in health economics, the minor will usually relate to the health and life sciences disciplines. A minor obtained in areas such as behavioral health sciences, biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, or health policy and management would be appropriate, for example. The minor must be approved by the student’s Advisor or the graduate director of the program. The minor must contain a minimum of three graduate level courses (9 credits) in the chosen area and it must comply with the minor requirements of the respective department/unit. Typically departments require 12 credit hours for a Ph.D. Minor. In cases where it is appropriate, an interdepartmental minor can be arranged with the consent of the DGS. When appropriate, a student may, with the consent of his/her advisor and/or the DGS, substitute a research tool skill of at least 9 credit hours for the Minor. These research tool skills credits will count toward the 90 credit requirement as long as the courses are approved for graduate credit.