Important Announcement: Effective January 2010, the UGA Syllabus System is now online. In order to access the course syllabi for Economics you will need to access the UGA Syllabus System.

Economics is a social science that studies how people and societies choose among alternative uses of scarce resources, and how these choices are coordinated through markets. It provides a framework for understanding the role government policy and evaluating its effects on economic behavior and social welfare.

Undergraduate degrees in Economics

We offer two undergraduate degrees in economics: the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) through the Terry College of Business and the Bachelor of Arts (AB) through the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

The degrees share the same economics course requirements, but differ in terms of elective requirements. The BBA requires course work in the business disciplines, such as accounting, finance, management and marketing. Students interested in the BBA degree should reference the Terry Economics Four-Year Plan (PDF | 172 KB) for general course planning. The AB degree promotes a liberal-arts experience and encourages elective course work in a wide range of disciplines. The degrees also have different admissions requirements.

The Department also offers a joint Bachelors of Arts/Masters (AB/MA) degree in cooperation with the UGA Honors Program and the Graduate School. This program is aimed at highly motivated and capable students who wish to pursue advanced work in economics in preparation for graduate school or employment in technically demanding fields.

So what can I do with an Economics major?

You can do anything where critical thinking and problem solving are important. Popular examples include consulting and financial services. Studying economics is also foundational to graduate study in business, public policy and law, and, of course, economics.

You see, studying economics does not simply give you a set of job skills (although it does that too); it gives you a way of thinking — a window to the world as it were. Through that window you can begin to understand why people do what they do, why firms are organized the way they are, why industries grow and decline. What part of business, what part of life, does not deal with tradeoffs, costs and benefits, and incentive problems?

Economics is enjoying a surge in popularity. The number of economics degrees awarded in the US has risen more than 40 percent in recent years. It's the most popular major at Harvard and NYU. Our own program attracts many of UGA's best and brightest, including 2008 Rhodes Scholar, Kate Vyborny. Economics' broad scope makes it both practical and marketable. Consulting firms and investment banks pursue economics grads for good reason. And marketability has its rewards. According to a recent article in Forbes, economics is the second most highly paid major (after computer science).

Check out the UGA Career Center for relevant job postings and watch the listserv for job announcements that come directly to the Economics Department.