GENERAL INFORMATION ON CERTIFICATES IN ECONOMICS
The Department of Economics has five certificate programs for declared Economics majors.¿ The certificates are in Financial Economics, Global Economics, Public Policy Economics, Economic Theory and Computational Data Analytics.¿ ¿These certificates are meant to provide economics majors with an incentive to plan and organize their thinking along several specific career paths that an economics degree is a good launching pad for, to the extent that this appeals to them.¿ There are specific grade requirements, including a minimum overall g.p.a. of 3.0 to receive the certificate, and a minimum B grade for all courses taken to satisfy the certificate requirements.
The certificates are uniform in requiring four courses from a select list of mainly upper-level economics electives, including a core course for the certificate, which may be a specific course or one course from a short list of courses. In the latter situation, other courses in the core list may also be used to satisfy the overall course requirement for the certificate. ¿Note that the Certificate in Economic Theory has some additional course requirements outside of economics. Click the tab for the Economic Theory Certificate for details. Certificates are noted on the student¿s transcript at graduation and may be listed on a c.v. or resume as an additional credential.
The Department of Economics no longer offers the Certificate in Quantitative Economics (CQE), which was a more credit-intensive certificate.¿ However, the combination of the Certificate in Economic Theory and the Certificate in Computational Data Analytics is approximately equivalent to the old CQE.
Finally, note that the certificates are also available to students who are completing the Minor in Quantitative Economics, as the prerequisite courses in economics necessary to complete any of the certificates will satisfy the requirements for the Minor in Quantitative Economics.
Certificate in Financial
Economics:
This concentration provides students with a deep background in the institutions, theory, quantitative practice, and history of the important field of financial economics. Students completing this certificate are well prepared for a career in Wall Street or for graduate study in economics, quantitative finance or financial engineering. Besides the normal core courses for the economics major, students take four of the following courses as part of the seven electives required for the major. One of these is a required core course. There are specific grade requirements, including a minimum overall g.p.a. of 3.0 to receive the certificate, and a minimum B grade for all courses taken to satisfy the certificate requirements. In addition, students completing the Certificate in May 2021 or later must take either 01:220:423, 436, or 481 as one of their electives to complete the certificate.
Core:
220:413 Financial Economics
Electives (three courses):
220:421 Economic Forecasting and Big Data
220:423 Advanced Time Series and Financial Econometrics
220:436 International Finance and Macroeconomics
220:481 Economics of Uncertainty
220:495 Markets and Finance
Certificate in Global
Economics:
This concentration is for students with an interest in global economic issues, including the international business cycle, long-term economic growth, balance of payments issues, integration of international markets and economic development. This certificate is a good preparation for employment in the Federal Reserve System or other central banks and in international organizations such as the IMF, the World Bank and the UN, and for graduate study in international relations, public policy or economics. Besides the normal core courses for the economics major, students take four courses, including one core course, as part of the seven electives required for the major. There are specific grade requirements, including a minimum overall g.p.a. of 3.0 to receive the certificate, and a minimum B grade for all courses taken to satisfy the certificate requirements.
Core: One of the following courses:
220:300 International Economics
220:435 International Trade
220:436 International Finance and Macroeconomics
Electives: Three of the following courses, with the option of
including an additional course from the core list above. Note that only two of
the three core courses may be used for credit toward the economics major, and
this general rule applies to the certificate as well.
220:410 Advanced Macroeconomic Theory
220:411 Global Financial Crises
220:423 Advanced Times Series and Financial Econometrics
220:439 Economic Development
220:477 Economics of Population
Certificate in Public Policy
Economics: The Certificate in Public Policy Economics is intended for students with an interest in working on fundamental policy issues related to labor, health, taxation, the environment, economic equality, gender, and other microeconomic issues. Employment in state and federal government agencies, in non-profit or non-governmental policy organizations, or graduate study in economics or public policy, are likely career paths. Besides the normal core courses for the economics major, students take four of the electives listed below as part of the seven electives required for the major. One of these is a required core course. There are specific grade requirements, including a minimum overall g.p.a. of 3.0 to receive the certificate, and a minimum B grade for all courses taken to satisfy the certificate requirements.
Core: One of the following courses:
220:402 Labor Economics
220:433 Health Economics
220:460 Public Economics
Electives: Three of the following courses, with the option of
including additional courses from the core list above.
220:331 Economics of Crime
220:422 Advanced Econometrics for Microeconomic Data
220:431 Urban Economics
220:432 Environmental Economics
220:438 Education Economics
220:463 Economics of Taxation
Certificate in Economic Theory: The certificate in economic theory is appropriate for
students with a strong mathematical preparation who wish to deepen their
understanding of microeconomic theory. This track is particularly recommended
for students who would like to be better prepared for graduate study in
economics. Students are advised to fulfill the major Calculus I requirement with 01:640:151 rather than 01:640:135. Besides the normal core requirements, students take Calculus II
(640:152), Linear Algebra (640:250), and the sequence of Mathematical Theory of
Probability (640:477) and Mathematical Theory of Statistics (640:481), or the
sequence of Theory of Probability (960:381) and Theory of Statistics (960:382).
The 477/481 math sequence or the 381/382 statistics sequence can substitute for
960:285 in the major core. For the seven electives for the major, students must
take at least four courses, including one core course. With instructor
approval, appropriate courses in the economics Ph.D. program may be used as
electives as well. Students who aspire to enroll in a Ph.D. program in economics
are encouraged, though not required for the certificate, to take additional
mathematics courses, including Multivariable Calculus (640:251), Elementary
Differential Equations (640:252), and Real Analysis (640:300 and 640:311). There
are specific grade requirements, including a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 to
receive the certificate, and a minimum B grade for all courses taken to satisfy
the certificate requirements.
Core: One course from the following:
220:481 Economics of Uncertainty
220:482 Game Theory and Economics
Electives: Three courses from the following, with the option of
including an additional course from the core list above:
220:441 Industrial Organization
220:480 Behavioral and Experimental Economics
220:483 Markets, Games, and Information
220:485 Advanced Microeconomic Theory
Certificate In Computational Economics and Data Analytics:
This concentration provides students with a deep background in advanced tools for analysis of economic data, including traditional regression methods commonly used in economics, as well as more computationally intensive methods, such as machine learning.¿ Students completing this certificate will be well-prepared for positions in a wide range of business and government organizations where high through-put analysis of incoming data is valued.¿ The certificate is also an excellent preparation for graduate study in economics or decision sciences, particularly for areas where computational modeling of economic decision making and analysis of data from decision making is the focus.¿Students planning to pursue this certificate should have a strong aptitude and interest in econometrics and are recommended to complete econometrics (01:220:322) and calculus II (01:640:136 or 152) as early as possible.¿ As for all the certificate programs in economics, a total of four courses, each with a grade of B or better, are required, as well as an overall g.p.a. of at least 3.0.¿
Required
220:420 Computational Methods for Research in Economics
Data Methods electives (at least three from this list):
220:421 Economic Forecasting and Big Data
220:422 Advanced Econometrics for Microeconomic Data
220:423 Advanced Time Series and Financial Economics
220:424 Advanced Analytics for Economics
