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Students in the Department of Economics are expected to earn a minimum of a B in all PhD-level coursework unless otherwise stated. 

In the graduate core courses, taken in the first year of the program, students are expected to earn at least a B, as is the baseline for our program. However, we acknowledge that the first year can be an adjustment, so each individual course must be completed with a grade of B- or higher, and the average of the three courses in each field (microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics) must be at least a B. Grades of B- or below are considered inadequate. All such grades are reviewed by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) and may require the course to be retaken. Any grade of C+ or lower will always necessitate a retake. If a course must be retaken, the DGS will specify the grade required to be considered satisfactory progress.

Except in rare cases, satisfactory progress requires no more than two of the following to appear on the transcript at any given time: Incomplete (‘I’), Not Passed or No Credit (‘NP’ or ‘NC’), grades of B- or below, or Withdrawn (‘W’).