Is Economics A Good Major For Someone Interested In Business?

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Eco­nom­ics pro­grams, such as those at Berke­ley, focus on crit­i­cal think­ing, quan­ti­ta­tive rea­son­ing, and com­mu­ni­ca­tion.
• Grad­u­ates with an eco­nom­ics degree can pur­sue diverse roles in busi­ness, includ­ing finance, resource logis­tics, and pol­i­cy-mak­ing, ben­e­fit­ing from a strong the­o­ret­i­cal and ana­lyt­i­cal skill set.
• Pres­ti­gious pro­grams like those at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Berke­ley and Flori­da State Uni­ver­si­ty offer com­pre­hen­sive cours­es and oppor­tu­ni­ties for intern­ships, pro­vid­ing prac­ti­cal expe­ri­ence and enhanc­ing employability.

The most com­mon busi­ness majors are Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion or Busi­ness Man­age­ment, though Eco­nom­ics is also a good choice for stu­dents who want to enter the world of busi­ness upon grad­u­a­tion. Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion and Busi­ness Man­age­ment degrees are detail-ori­ent­ed majors that base their cur­ricu­lum on the work­place, while Eco­nom­ics majors focus on macro-ori­ent­ed con­cepts that explain how the econ­o­my works. 

If you are inter­est­ed in work­ing for a spe­cif­ic com­pa­ny, Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion or Man­age­ment is prob­a­bly the best choice for you, but if you are inter­est­ed in earn­ing a more ver­sa­tile degree that will give you a the­o­ret­i­cal under­stand­ing of the econ­o­my, then Eco­nom­ics is the best degree. 

Eco­nom­ics majors are not con­fined to finance, bank­ing, or gov­ern­ment, and can instead be focused on resource logis­tics to improve peo­ple’s lives. If you have decid­ed that you want to major in Eco­nom­ics, the next step is to find the pro­gram that best fits your aca­d­e­m­ic and pro­fes­sion­al expectations. 

For ref­er­ence to some of the best bach­e­lor degrees in eco­nom­ics, check out our list of the Top 15 Bachelor’s Degrees in Eco­nom­ics. Let’s take a clos­er look at a cou­ple of the best pro­grams for bach­e­lor degrees in Eco­nom­ics, that might help you fig­ure out whether eco­nom­ics is a good major for you.

University of Berkeley

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Berke­ley is a pub­lic research uni­ver­si­ty that was found­ed in 1868 and is locat­ed in Berke­ley, Cal­i­for­nia. Berke­ley is con­sid­ered one of the most pres­ti­gious pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties in the Unit­ed States, and there­fore has one of the most pres­ti­gious eco­nom­ics degrees for under­grad­u­ate stu­dents. Berkeley’s Bachelor’s in Eco­nom­ics is based around core learn­ing goals, includ­ing crit­i­cal think­ing, quan­ti­ta­tive rea­son­ing, and com­mu­ni­ca­tion, that will give their stu­dents a holis­tic under­stand­ing of eco­nom­ic concepts. 

All stu­dents are required to take core cours­es in Micro­eco­nom­ic The­o­ry, Macro­eco­nom­ic The­o­ry, and Econo­met­rics. There are a vari­ety of elec­tive class­es avail­able for eco­nom­ic majors includ­ing His­to­ry of Eco­nom­ic thought, Indus­tri­al Orga­ni­za­tion and Pub­lic Pol­i­cy, and Glob­al Inequal­i­ty and Growth. Stu­dents have the option of com­plet­ing an hon­ors the­sis, which can earn them entry into Berkeley’s pres­ti­gious Omi­cron Delta Epsilon Eco­nom­ics Hon­or Society. 

Tuition at Berke­ley came out to $14,170 for in-state stu­dents, and $42,184 for out-of-state stu­dents, though 63% of stu­dents receive some form of finan­cial aid. For more infor­ma­tion about how tuition, finan­cial aid, and stu­dent loans add up to a final bill for your col­lege degree, check out our info­graph­ic on The Eco­nom­ics of a Bachelor’s Degree.

Florida State University

Flori­da State Uni­ver­si­ty is a pub­lic research uni­ver­si­ty that was estab­lished in 1851, and is locat­ed in Tal­la­has­see, Flori­da. The uni­ver­si­ty offers a bachelor’s degree with a major, or minor, in Eco­nom­ics or Applied Eco­nom­ics, which allow stu­dents to have a cap­stone expe­ri­ence by intern­ing at a busi­ness, gov­ern­ment agency, or non-prof­it organization. 

Core cours­es include Inter­me­di­ate Macro­eco­nom­ic The­o­ry, Analy­sis of Eco­nom­ic Data, and Intro­duc­tion to Econo­met­rics. Elec­tive course options include Resource and Envi­ron­men­tal Eco­nom­ics, Busi­ness Orga­ni­za­tion and Reg­u­la­tion, and Eco­nom­ic Theory. 

Tuition rates at Flori­da State for the 2017–18 school year came out to $5,656 for in-state stu­dents, and $18,786 for out-of-state stu­dents, though 89% of stu­dents received some form of finan­cial aid.

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