Program and Requirements

The Economics Department offers a Bachelor's/Master's (AB/MA) degree for current UGA undergraduates in the Honors Program. Honors students must have a 3.5 GPA to be considered. The AB/MA program is designed for students who plan to pursue a PhD program in economics, finance, public policy, or statistics or who are looking for private- or public-sector positions that require significant technical research skills.

The MA degree is not offered as a terminal or stand-alone graduate degree in economics. Only PhD students who discontinue work toward their doctorate are eligible to terminate their studies with the MA degree.

The combined AB/MA degree is sponsored with the UGA Honors College in conjunction with the UGA Graduate School. The Honors Program assists potential candidates throughout the process by guiding them through the requirements and helping departments and deans monitor each candidate's progress.

A combined Bachelor’s/Master’s degree calls for a carefully coordinated four-year or five-year plan of study and close cooperation among several academic advisors. This is especially true in economics where a joint degree student must take many math and statistics courses in his or her first few years at UGA. Therefore, students interested in the combined degree program should discuss the opportunity with an Honors and departmental advisor while they are first-year students, and these advisors will help each student develop a plan of study.

Students wishing to pursue the joint degree should complete the following by the spring of their second year:

Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree Program Honors Application (PDF | 31 KB)

The Economics Department provides a proposed a Bachelor’s/Master’s Plan of Study (PDF | 66 KB) that can be used as a basis to complete the Honors College form. Students should also be familiar with the Economics Department Requirements for Bachelor’s/Master’s Students (PDF | 129KB).

Placement

Our AB-MA students have had excellent placements in both graduate school and the job market.

Graduate School Admissions

To complete the MA degree, prospective students must also apply to the UGA Graduate School through the Terry PhD application process, and be accepted by Graduate School. The application process goes through the Prospective students may complete up to 12 hours of graduate courses before they formally enroll as a graduate student. Also, students may count up to 12 hours towards both the Bachelor and Master degrees. Students typically apply to the Graduate School in the spring of their third year. The General Test of the GRE is required for admission into the program. The quantitative portion of the exam is given more weight than the verbal in making admissions decisions. The GMAT will not be accepted as a substitute.