Economics, B.A.
Murray Koppelman School of Business
Program Overview
As an economics major, you will broaden your professional horizons and learn the tools required to pursue a career or an advanced degree in economics or a related discipline. You will focus on one of the following areas: enterprise and public policy, international economics, financial economics, political economics, or economic analysis. The economics program also offers you the flexibility to specialize in a field in economics or to complete a minor while pursuing a specialization in business, accounting, or a major outside the Economics Department.
Major Details
The program information listed here reflects the approved curriculum for the 2024–25 academic year per the Brooklyn College Bulletin. Bulletins from past academic years can be found here.
Major Description
The B.A. degree program in economics allows students to choose from three tracks: financial and international economics, urban economics and public policy, and economic analysis. The B.A. in economics develops critical thinking and communication skills that come with a liberal arts degree, rather than specific skills and knowledge useful to businesses. By combining liberal arts critical thinking skills with analytical skills, a B.A. prepares students for a broad range of private and public sector careers as well as for graduate study.
Major Requirements (34–48 Credits)
The department chair may allow substitutions for one or more of these requirements consistent with the educational goals of the program.
- A. All of the following: Economics 2100, 2200; Economics 3400 or Business 3400 or Mathematics 1501 or 2501 or 3501 or Sociology 2112 or Psychology 3400; Economics 3410 or Mathematics 1231 or Mathematics 1201 or Mathematics 2101.
- B. Economics 4400W or Business 4400W.
- C. At least one of the following courses: Economics 3102, 3202.
- D. One of the following three tracks:
- Economic Analysis
- Financial and International Economics
- Urban Economics and Public Policy
- E. One additional course selected from those listed under C or D but not used to meet requirements in B or C or D above.
Students considering graduate work in economics are strongly encouraged to take Economics 4422 and the Economic Analysis concentration.
Students must achieve a grade of C- or better in each course submitted in satisfaction of Department requirements A, B, C, D, and E, and an average grade of C for courses satisfying said major requirements.
Note: Only courses submitted in fulfillment of requirements B, C, D, and E qualify as “advanced courses” in Economics.
Writing-Intensive Requirement: Students are required to take at least one writing-intensive course (W course).
Residence Requirement
Candidates for a bachelor’s degree are required to complete at least 30 credits at Brooklyn College, including no fewer than 15 credits in advanced courses in the major department, which must be completed with a grade of C or higher in each course.
Student Learning Outcomes
- Written Communication
- Cultivate the ability to draft and revise written material and the skills needed to edit one’s work. Economics 4400W, Advanced Economic and Business Statistics, is designated as a writing-intensive course.
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Utilize statistical software
- Econometrics—Describe a regression model of an economic theory and estimate the model using actual economic data.
- Solve unconstrained and constrained optimization problems and apply the techniques in economics.
- Critical Thinking
- Evaluate arguments and propositions logically through the use algebraic, graphical, and verbal models.
- Information Literacy
- Use databases such as Econ Lit, Scopus, and Lexis-Nexis to review and synthesize theoretical and empirical literature in a given subfield of economics.
- Ethical Awareness
- Develop an understanding of the moral and ideological issues underlying economic theory and how this leads to competing worldviews.
Degree Maps
To help you pursue your studies in the most efficient manner, and to maximize your efforts to graduate in four years, Brooklyn College has created four-year degree maps for all its majors.
View degree maps for this major and others.
Contact
Chun Wang
216 Whitehead Hall
E: cwang@brooklyn.cuny.edu
P: 718.951.5000 ext. 2094
Or contact:
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
222 West Quad Center
2900 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11210
E: adminqry@brooklyn.cuny.edu
To make an appointment with an undergraduate admissions counselor, visit:
Tracks
The Support You’ll Find
Brooklyn College is an integral part of the cultural and artistic energy of New York City. Our faculty members in the Department of Economics offer incomparable expertise and tremendous talent, and each brings a unique perspective to their teaching and mentoring in and out of the classroom.
Internships and Employers
Through job fairs, the internship database, and internship panels, the Magner Career Center gives students in the economics B.A. program access to career opportunities at a wide variety of employers, including:
- Brown Harris Stevens
- Citibank
- The Corcoran Group
- Deloitte
- Ernst & Young
- Federal Reserve Bank of America
- HSBC
- Internal Revenue Service
- JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- KPMG
- Marks Paneth
- New York City Department of Taxation and Finance
- New York City Economic Development Corporation
- New York City Office of Management and Budget
- PricewaterhouseCoopers
- UBS
