Introduction

Please click here to see Economics department information.

The 5-year BA/MA program in economics allows qualified undergraduate students to take graduate level economic courses and count them towards their B.A. degree in economics.  After completing the B.A. in economics, up to 12 graduate level ECON credits taken as an undergraduate student may be counted again towards the M.A. in Economics degree.  This allows a student to complete both the B.A. and M.A. in economics in as few as five years.  Students who decide not to pursue a M.A. degree in economics at CU Denver after earning a B.A. degree in economics retain their B.A. degree along with all other undergraduate credentials on their transcripts. 

These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their Economics faculty advisors and their CLAS Advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

Program Delivery

• This is an on-campus program.

Declaring This Major

• Click here to go to information about declaring a major.

Admission Requirements

1. Meet all general admission requirements
2. Be a current CU Denver Economics major with a GPA of 3.5 or better
3. The following courses must have been completed at CU Denver with a grade of B+ or better: MATH 2411 Calculus II, MATH 2421 Calculus III, ECON 4071 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory, and ECON 4811 Introduction to Econometrics
4. Students should apply in the semester when requirement 3 is satisfied (typically in the end of the fall semester of their junior year - as in the sample curriculum below)
5. Students who do not meet requirements 2 and 3 may apply, but must submit GRE scores and two letters of recommendation; otherwise both are waived
6. To apply, students should submit a regular application to the MA ECON program here: https://application.admissions.ucdenver.edu/apply/. Students who meet the admission requirements are not required to pay the application fee, submit GRE scores, letters of recommendation, or a personal statement. Students must contact the graduate advisor after their application is submitted to have this material waived (brian.duncan@ucdenver.edu)

General Requirements

To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.

• CU Denver General Graduation Requirements
• CU Denver Core Curriculum
• College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduation Requirements
• Click here for information about Academic Policies

Program Requirements

1. Students must complete a minimum of 48 credit hours with a minimum of 33 ECON and 12 MATH credit hours.
2. Students must complete a minimum of 18 upper division (3000-level and above) credit hours in ECON electives, with a maximum of 12 graduate level (5000-level and above) ECON credit hours. A maximum of six credit hours at the 3000 level in ECON will count toward degree requirements.
3. Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the major and students must earn a minimum grade of B- (2.7) in all graduate courses that apply to the graduate degree. Students must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0 and master's GPA of 3.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to major or graduate requirements.
4. Students must complete a minimum of 18 ECON credit hours including ECON 4811 Introduction to Econometrics, with CU Denver faculty.  Once a student has enrolled at CU Denver, no more courses in the major can be taken outside the CU Denver Economics Department.  This includes courses offered at Metropolitan State University.  The department reserves the right to require a demonstration of competence for any core courses not taken from CU Denver faculty. All graduate level courses applied to the MA with CU Denver faculty.

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

While students are completing a BA degree in economics, they may also complete some of the requirements for an MA degree in economics by participating in the BA/MA program using the following guidelines:

1. The student must apply and be accepted for participation in the BA/MA program prior to completion of the BA degree in consultation with both the undergraduate and graduate advisors. Students must complete a 4+1 intent form to formally declare this program, as they work very closely with undergraduate and graduate advisors to ensure they are on track and completing requirements as necessary.
2. Students need to take only three electives at the undergraduate level; the three electives taken at the graduate level are double counted in fulfilling both BA and MA graduation requirements. ECON 5803 (Graduate Mathematical Economics) is waived or can be counted as one graduate-level elective. The total dual credits are 12 hours.
3. A minimum of 12 of the 18 upper division credit hours required must be completed with 4000 level and above courses.
4. Students will earn the BA degree in their fourth year upon completing all the requirements for the BA degree. Students are expected to be admitted to the Graduate School in their final two semesters prior to earning the MA degree.
5. All courses other than ECON 2012 Principles of Economics: Macroeconomics and ECON 2022 Principles of Economics: Microeconomics require written department approval to be transferred in as satisfying major requirements.
6. MATH 2411 Calculus II or MATH 2421 Calculus III with a grade of B or higher will satisfy the ECON 3801 Introduction to Mathematical Economics requirement. If a student completes ECON 3801 Introduction to Mathematical Economics, and then subsequently or concurrently completes MATH 2411 Calculus II, with a grade of B or higher, ECON 3801 Introduction to Mathematical Economics will be counted as an Economics 3000-level elective but will not be used as an elective for evaluation of Honors. However, if a student has already completed MATH 2411 Calculus II with a B or better, then ECON 3801 Introduction to Mathematical Economics taken subsequently cannot be counted as an elective.

Undergraduate Required Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete all of the following courses:		30
ECON 2012	Principles of Economics: Macroeconomics
ECON 2022	Principles of Economics: Microeconomics
ECON 4071	Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
ECON 4081	Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory
ECON 4811	Introduction to Econometrics
MATH 1401	Calculus I
MATH 2411	Calculus II
MATH 2421	Calculus III
MATH 3382	Statistical Theory
or ECON 3811	Statistics with Computer Applications

Undergraduate Electives

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete six additional three credit hour courses in economics at the 3000-level or higher; a minimum of six credits must be at the 4000-level and a maximum of 12 credits may be at the graduate level.		18
Internships and independent studies require approval of the department chair in order to be given credit as an economics course.
The following graduate courses are approved to apply to the Economics BA degree
ECON 5073	Microeconomic Theory
ECON 5083	Macroeconomic Theory 1
ECON 5813	Econometrics I
ECON 5823	Econometrics II
ECON 6053 & ECON 6054	Seminar In Applied Economics and Seminar In Applied Economics II
ECON 6073	Research Seminar

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ECON 5803 (Graduate Mathematical Economics) can be waived with the graduate advisor’s approval. Students who have ECON 5803 waived will be required to complete 12 graduate elective credit hours to complete the MA.

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website. 

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website. 

To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.