Undergraduate
Bachelor's Degree Programs
Economics
Major in Economics
Economics is the study of the ways in which people attempt to satisfy their material needs and desires. It studies how people decide whether or how much to work in the marketplace or at home, and how consumers and businesses decide whether or how much to spend, save, produce or invest. It explains how markets coordinate the activities of many diverse buyers and sellers, and it explores circumstances that make it difficult for markets to function effectively without government or nonprofit-sector intervention. A major in economics supports the liberal arts traditions of promoting students' ability to think critically and helping them develop a better understanding of the world around them.
Students completing the Economics B.A. program will achieve the following:
Know:
- a wide variety of economic issues, be able to determine when an issue is or is not essentially economic, and be able to distinguish between the positive and normative aspects of economic issues.
- the mathematical and statistical techniques that are widely used in economic analysis.
Understand:
- the complementary roles of the private sector and the government in the U.S. economy, and develop some familiarity with the similarities and differences in the role of the government in other world economies;
- the relationships between world economies in the areas of trade, finance, and information exchange, and will be familiar with the potential benefits and costs of these relationships; and
- how economic theory and models can be used to help study economic phenomena, and be able to use economic theory to help interpret and address many economic and social issues.
Be able to:
- understand and interpret economic data, and statistics based on economic data, when presented in a variety of forms.
The Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Economics (ECON) requires satisfactory completion of the following:
- A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for a B.A. degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts.
- A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 (C) is required for graduation.
- A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed after formal admission to IU Indianapolis.
- A minimum of 21 credit hours of major coursework must be completed in residence in the IU School of Liberal Arts atIU Indianapolis. Course work completed on an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program counts as residential credit.
- A minimum grade of C (2.0) is required in each major course.
- Once a course has been applied toward one requirement, it cannot be used to satisfy a second requirement, except where explicitly stated otherwise. In addition, except in cases of variable title courses, internships, and other special courses, no course will be counted more than once toward graduation.
- ECON-E 406 must be taken at IU Indianapolis.
IU Indianapolis General Education Core
A list of accepted courses in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core can be found here.
Core Communication (6 credits)
- ENG-W 131: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry I (3 credits) or ENG-W 140: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry: Honors (3 credits) completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) sections of ENG-G 131 have been designated for students whose first language is not English.
- COMM-R 110: Fundamentals of Speech Communication (3 credits)
Analytical Reasoning (6 credits)
- College math from List A (3 credits)
- List A or List B (3 credits)
Cultural Understanding (3 credits)
- A world language course is recommended
Life and Physical Sciences (6 credits)
- A laboratory science component is required
Arts/Humanities and Social Sciences (9 credits)
- Arts & Humanities (3 credits)
- Social Science (3 credits)
- Additional Arts & Humanities or Social Science (3 credits)
Transfer students entering IU Indianapolis from another public university in Indiana who have completed the transferable general education core at their home campus will not need to complete the IU Indianapolis General Education Core.
Liberal Arts Baccalaureate Competencies
First-Year Experience (1-3 credits)
- SLA-S 100: First Year Success Seminar
- Other: First Year Seminar from another school at IU Indianapolis
Transfer students with 18 or more credit hours are not required to take this course.
Writing Proficiency (3 credits), completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher, chosen from the following:
- ENG-W 230: Writing in the Sciences
- ENG-W 231: Professional Writing Skills
- ENG-W 270: Argumentative Writing
Transfer students may satisfy the writing proficiency by completing course work equivalent to ENG-W 231, ENG-W 230, ENG-W 270, or GEWR-UN 200 with a grade of C (2.0) or higher at another campus or institution.
Transfer students with 80 or more transfer credits may petition for exemption from the Writing Proficiency requirement. Petition available in the Miriam Z. Langsam Office of Student Affairs, Cavanaugh Hall room 401.
Analytical Proficiency (3 credits), chosen from the following:
- ECON-E 270: Introduction to Statistical Theory in Economics and Business
- PHIL-P 208: Causality and Evidence
- PHIL-P 262: Practical Logic
- PHIL-P 265: Introduction to Symbolic Logic
- POLS-Y 205: Analyzing Politics
- SOC-R 359: Introduction to Sociological Stats
Analytical Proficiency is in addition to the Analytical Reasoning area in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core. Analytical Proficiency courses may be shared with major requirements if applicable.
Life and Physical Sciences Laboratory
One laboratory science course is required, but may be part of the coursework taken in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core.
Arts and Humanities (3 credits) - Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines
- Africana Studies (AFRO)
- American Studies (AMST)
- American Sign Language (ASL) excluding World Languages courses
- Classics (CLAS) excluding World Languages courses
- Communication Studies (COMM-R, excluding COMM-R 110, and COMM-T only)
- East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC) excluding World Language courses
- English-Creative Writing or Writing and Literacy (ENG-W), excluding courses in the Writing Proficiency area.
- English Literature (ENG-L)
- Film Studies (FILM)
- Folklore (FOLK) excluding FOLK-F 101
- German (GER) excluding World Language courses
- History (HIST) excluding HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
- Latino Studies (LATS)
- Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS)
- Museum Studies (MSTD)
- Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
- Philosophy (PHIL)
- Religious Studies (REL)
- Spanish (SPAN) excluding World Language courses
- Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) excluding WGSS-W 105
- World Languages and Cultures (WLAC)
Social Sciences (3 credits) - Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines
- Africana Studies (AFRO)
- Anthropology (ANTH)
- Communication Studies (COMM-C and COMM-M only)
- English-Linguistics (ENG-Z)
- Folklore (FOLK)
- Geography (GEOG)
- Global and International Studies (INTL)
- History (HIST) only HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
- Journalism and Public Relations (JOUR)
- Latino Studies (LATS)
- Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS) excluding MHHS-M 201
- Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
- Political Science (POLS)
- Psychology (PSY)
- Sociology (SOC)
- Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS)
World Language and Perspectives (0-14 credits) - This requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways:
- Completion of second-year proficiency in a single world language.
- Second-year proficiency is demonstrated by:
- passing the full second-year sequence of courses in a single language or
- completing a third or fourth-year course1
- Second-year proficiency is demonstrated by:
- Completion of third-semester proficiency in a single world language and one course in History selected from HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, or HIST-H 114.
- Completion of first-year proficiency in a single world language; one history course selected from HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, or HIST-H 114; and one course selected from the Global History and Perspectives list:
- ANTH-A 104, Intro to Cultural Anthropology
- CLAS-C 213, Sport and Competition in the Ancient World
- EALC-E 232, China Past and Present: Culture in Continuing Evolution
- ENG-L 245, (The Empire Writes Back) Intro to Caribbean Literature
- GEOG-G 130, World Geography
- HIST-H 108, Perspectives on the World to 1800
- HIST-H 109, Perspectives on the World since 1800
- HIST-H 113, History of Western Civilization I
- HIST-H 114, History of Western Civilization II
- INTL-I 100, Intro to International Studies
- LATS-L 228, An Interdisciplinary Look at U.S. Latino/a Identities
- POLS-Y 217, Introduction to Comparative Politics
- POLS-Y 219, Introduction to International Relations
- REL-R 212, Comparative Religions
- Non-English native speaker with approved waiver.
Courses in World Language and Perspectives may also satisfy General Education Core Cultural Understanding.
1 Students interested in receiving credit for lower-division language courses, see the section ‘‘Special Credit for Foreign Language Study.’’
Advanced Courses
Students are required to have 42 credit hours in 300-400 level coursework including courses in their major. Of the 42 advanced credits, 9 credit hours must be 300-400 level coursework outside the first Liberal Arts major field of study and from the School of Liberal Arts. Students seeking dual degrees are exempt from completing 9 credits hours in 300-400 level coursework outside their major and from the School of Liberal Arts.
Economics Major Requirements (33 credits)
- ECON-E 201: Introduction to Microeconomics (3 credits)
- ECON-E 202: Introduction to Macroeconomics (3 credits)
- ECON-E 270: Introduction to Statistical Theory in Economics (3 credits)
- ECON-E 321: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (3 credits) (Prerequisite for this course is E 201.)
- ECON-E 322: Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory (3 credits) (Prerequisite for this course is E 202.)
- ECON-E 406: Senior Seminar (3 credits) (Prerequisites for this course are E 321 and E 322.)
- MATH-M 118: Finite Mathematics (3 credits)
- MATH-M 119: Brief Survey of Calculus 1 (3 credits)
- Nine (9) Credits of Economics electives from the following:
- ECON-E 303: Introduction to International Economics
- ECON-E 304: Introduction to Labor Economics
- ECON-E 305: Money and Banking
- ECON-E 307: Current Economic Issues
- ECON-E 327: Game Theory
- ECON-E 337: Economic Development
- ECON-E 375: Mathematical Economics
- ECON-E 387: Health Economics
- ECON-E 408: Undergraduate Readings in Economics – Arranged
- ECON-E 410: Selected Topics in U.S. Economic History
- ECON-E 450: Business Conditions Analysis and Forecasting
With the exception of ECON-E 406, these classes should be completed by the end of the junior year.
BA/MS in Applied Economics
The Economics Department offers a five-year Dual B.A./M.S. program. This program gives undergraduate economics majors the opportunity to add a graduate (Master of Science) degree to their undergraduate (Bachelor of Arts) degree with only one additional year of study.
Program Requirements
Students in the dual program complete the 30 hours of coursework required by our current MS in Applied Economics, with one exception. Students in the M.S. program take both E582, our second course in Applied Macroeconomics, and E583, our course in Applied Macroeconomics. However, B.A./M.S. students can substitute E406, our undergraduate capstone course, for either E582 or E583.
As with other five-year undergrad/master’s degree programs on our campus, there are four courses (12 credits) that overlap and count for both the B.A. and the M.S. These courses are E406 (our capstone course: see above), E504 (Mathematics for Economists), E570 (Econometrics), and either E582 or E583 (see above). E504 is an advanced substitute for the undergraduate course E375, and E570 is an advanced substitute for the undergraduate course E470. E582 and E583 also are advanced substitutes for undergraduate courses (E304 or E385 and E410, respectively). These four courses all are taken in the student’s senior year. Thus, if an economics major decides not to complete the MS then they will be taking no “extra” courses: all four courses will count toward their BA degree.
Admission Requirements
The requirements for admission to the the B.A./M.S. program are the same as the requirements for admission to the M.S. program, with two exceptions: a completed B.A. degree is not required, and GRE scores are not required. Admissions will be based primarily on [1] performance in the core economics undergraduate economics courses (E201, E202, E270, E321, E322), [2] performance in Math-I 165 (Calculus I) and [3] three letters of recommendation from instructors in the above undergraduate courses.
Course Requirements
The course schedule for the dual program is as follows:
5 Year B.A./M.S.
First Year/Senior Year
Fall Spring
ECON-E 504: (Mathematics for Economists) ECON-E 406 Senior Seminar
ECON-E 570: (Econometrics) ECON-E 582 Applied Microeconomics OR
ECON-E 583 Applied Macroeconomics
Second Year
Fall Spring
ECON E-581 Applied Microeconomics ECON-E 521: Microeconomic Theory
ECON-E 522: Macroeconomic theory
STAT 51600: Probability STAT 517: Statistics
Open electives
Candidates for a degree in the IU School of Liberal Arts must complete the IU Indianapolis General Education Core requirements, the baccalaureate competencies, and the requirements of their major department. Usually, students will still need to complete additional hours in order to reach the graduation requirement of 120 credit hours. These remaining credit hours are known as open electives.
Dual Degree Advantage (BA only)
The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are waived for IU Indianapolis undergraduate students whose first major is outside the School of Liberal Arts and whose second major is a Bachelor of Arts degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts atIU Indianapolis. Students are only required to complete the courses in their major of choice in Liberal Arts. The IU Indianapolis General Education Core or the Indiana transferable general education core must be successfully completed. Students must complete the degree outside Liberal Arts in order to have the Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies waived for degree completion. The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are only waived for students who actively pursue and complete another degree program outside of Liberal Arts. Both degrees must be completed at the same time.
