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Economics

Economics is widely viewed as the study of companies and interest rates. Yes, we study those areas, but only because they involve choices. Economics is the study of choices in any situation including family, business, political, historical, criminal, and educational. By learning the economic way of thinking about individual choices, you develop the critical-thinking skills necessary to analyze complex problems, to think strategically about the intended and unintended consequences of choices, and to do scenario planning. The BA in economics is a general program, flexible enough to allow for a diversity of student objectives. The BS is designed for those who plan to study economics at the graduate level, to find jobs working as an economist, or in closely related fields.

Employers in business, politics, law, social work and education highly value the critical-thinking skills developed in economics. Businesses can, for example, train you to do "marketing" their way. But they cannot train you to do economic thinking. Economics develops your ability to organize your thoughts, to write professionally and to make clear and persuasive arguments. Economics develops your investigative skills as you learn to analyze and interpret data. Economic thinking is a skill you bring to the employer. These skills explain why economics majors score higher on law school admissions tests than other majors and why economics majors receive among the highest starting salaries. The major is designed with lots of electives to let you combine economic thinking with a skill-set in another subject. Skills, such as accounting, may get you in the door, but the critical-thinking ability developed in economics moves you up!

Is an economics major right for you?

The answer is yes, if you are comfortable making and being responsible for decisions; if your decisions are based on objective reasoning; if you have an insatiable urge to understand and explain why things happen; and if you recognize that there is generally more than one right answer to complex social, political, and business issues. An economics major is also ideal if you desire flexibility for potential graduate study. Economics majors easily step into master's degrees in business, law, public administration, history and new fields like Pharmaceutical Economics.

The department has distinguished faculty committed to excellence in teaching and to a focus on applied economics. We train you to be comfortable using economics in a variety of situations. Faculty members work with you and often debate topics late into the night--providing interesting, everyday, intellectual challenges. That's how we have fun. College is an intellectually exciting time; we are honored to be a part and to contribute to the fun of learning.

BA/BS - Economics

Requirements for the Major - BA - Economics:

ECON 001A Principles of Economics: Macroeconomics
ECON 001B Principles of Economics: Microeconomics
Econ 1A & Econ 1B are 4 semester units each. They consist of the standard three hours of lecture plus an additional two hours of online lab. Online labs consist of problem sets, readings, and other assignments. Unlike ground labs, there is no scheduled meeting time for online labs. Students transferring into the major with only three units of principles of economics will have to enroll in a one-unit, credit/no credit online lab for each principles of economics course.
ECON 003 Economic Statistics
Economic Statistics is also a 4 semester unit course (formerly ECON 103A) containing a regularly scheduled lab where students work using computer software programs. Students transferring into the major with only three semester units of statistics will have to enroll in a one-unit, credit/no credit section of the regularly scheduled statistics lab.

Requirements for the Major - BS - Economics:

ECON 001A Principles of Economics: Macroeconomics
ECON 001B Principles of Economics: Microeconomics
Econ 1A & Econ 1B are 4 semester units each. They consist of the standard three hours of lecture plus an additional two hours of online lab. Online labs consist of problem sets, readings, and other assignments. Unlike ground labs, there is no scheduled meeting time for online labs. Students transferring into the major with only three units of principles of economics will have to enroll in a one-unit, credit/no credit online lab for each principles of economics course.
ECON 003 Economic Statistics
Economic Statistics is also a 4 semester unit course (formerly ECON 103A) containing a regularly scheduled lab where students work using computer software programs. Students transferring into the major with only three semester units of statistics will have to enroll in a one-unit, credit/no credit section of the regularly scheduled statistics lab.

Transfer students who intend to complete the requirements for the BS - Economics must complete the Mathematics courses listed below (the grades in each math course below must be a "C" or better):

MATH 070 Finite Mathematics
MATH 030 Calculus I
   OR
MATH 071 Calculus for Business and Aviation

OTHER COURSES TRANSFERABLE TO THE MAJOR:

Basic Accounting: The department of Economics accepts 3 units of lower division basic accounting as an Economics elective.
Other Lower Division Courses: Students can transfer 28 units of ANY COURSE ELECTIVES for the B.A. and 24 units of ANY COURSE ELECTIVES for the B.S.
The department encourages students to use these ANY course electives to strengthen economic understanding by taking other available lower division Economics courses or to creat their own area of specialization in areas such as pre-law, accounting, communications, statistical analysis.

All students must satisfy the following prerequisite (or equivalent) prior to registering for the WST and 100W courses at SJSU {Academic Senate policy S05-8}:

ENGL 001B Composition 2
A "C" or better is required in English 1B (a "C-" is not acceptable).
or
Second Semester English Composition Equivalent Course
A course articulated to SJSU's English 1B is recommended, however any course approved for the IGETC second semester composition area would be accepted to meet this requirement (a grade of "C" or better is required).

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