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Major: Bachelor of Arts
MajorOverview
The undergraduate program in Economics aims to acquaint students with the economic aspects of modern society, familiarize them with techniques for analyzing contemporary economic problems, and develop an ability to exercise judgment in evaluating public policy. The program introduces students to macro- and microeconomic theory, teaches them to think and write clearly about economic problems and policy issues and apply essential economic analysis tools. The undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree provides an excellent background for those who plan government and private enterprise careers and those pursuing graduate degrees in professional schools or economics.
Requirements
Core Program Requirements
Core Courses
All Core Courses must be taken for a letter grade. In Fall 24 and onward, students must earn a C or better in all courses completed for the ECON Core.
Field Courses
Must be taken at Stanford in California and must be taken for a letter grade. The economics major does not require following a specific track or concentration; however, students may go to economics.stanford.edu opens in a new tab to see the economics courses (listed below) sorted by focus areas.
ECON 47
Media Markets and Social Good
ECON 102C
Advanced Topics in Econometrics
ECON 108
Data Science for Business and Economic Decisions
ECON 111
Money and Banking
ECON 113
Historical perspectives on inequality and opportunity in America
ECON 115
Causality, Decision Making and Data Science
ECON 118
Development Economics
ECON 122
Economics of Health Equity
ECON 125
Economic Development, Microfinance, and Social Networks
ECON 126
Economics of Health and Medical Care
ECON 127
Economics of Health Improvement in Developing Countries
ECON 131
The Chinese Economy
ECON 141
Investments in Financial Markets
ECON 136
Market Design
ECON 137
Decision Modeling and Information
ECON 146
Economics of Education
ECON 149
Management Economics
ECON 150
Economic Policy Analysis
ECON 152
Advanced Macroeconomics
ECON 155
Climate change and global inequality
ECON 156
Energy Markets and Policy
ECON 157
Imperfect Competition
ECON 165
International Finance
ECON 166
International Trade
ECON 169
Advanced Topics in Macroeconomics and International Finance
ECON 170
Globalization and Growth
ECON 177
Environmental Economics: Models, Data, and Policy Design
ECON 178
Behavioral Economics
ECON 179
Experimental Economics
ECON 185
Data Science for Environmental Business
ECON 198
Junior Honors Seminar
any 200-level course with permission of DUS and course instructor. Students should contact the department Student Services Officer once a course is approved.
Students who have completed ECON 135 may not also count units for ECON 140 or ECON 141 as the content is too similar.
Students may count toward the econ field course requirement Econ 160, Econ 167G, or 180. The others may count as electives.
Electives
Elective Courses
Students complete 20-27 units in addition to the field courses taken; choose from any ECON courses offered for a letter grade.
If a student waives ECON 1, they must complete another 5 units of electives to make up for the unit credit.
If the Field Course requirement of 5 courses does not add up to 25 units, the missing units can be made up with elective units.
Advanced undergraduate majors with strong quantitative preparation may enroll in Econ graduate (200-level) courses with the permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the course instructor.
(Optional) In addition to ECON courses, up to 10 units of this requirement may be satisfied by some combination of the following:
Upper division math, statistics, and computer science courses (see list below).
Approved non-economics courses, including those from the Bing Overseas Study Program, Stanford in Washington, and Stanford in New York (see list below).
Approved Transfer Credit
Approved units of ECON 139D (Directed Reading).
The department does not give credit for internships.
CS 106B
Programming Abstractions
CS 161
Design and Analysis of Algorithms
CS 221
Artificial Intelligence: Principles and Techniques
CS 227B
General Game Playing
CS 228
Probabilistic Graphical Models: Principles and Techniques
CS 229
Machine Learning
MATH 113
Linear Algebra and Matrix Theory
MATH 114
Introduction to Scientific Computing
MATH 115
Functions of a Real Variable
MATH 118
Mathematics of Computation
MATH 120
Groups and Rings
MATH 136
Stochastic Processes
MATH 151
Introduction to Probability Theory
MATH 161
Set Theory
MATH 171
Fundamental Concepts of Analysis
MATH 172
Fourier Analysis
MATH 175
Elementary Functional Analysis
MS&E 244
Statistical Arbitrage
MS&E 245A
Investment Science
MS&E 245B
Advanced Investment Science
STATS 200
Introduction to Theoretical Statistics
STATS 202
Statistical Learning and Data Science
STATS 203
Regression Models and Analysis of Variance
STATS 206
Applied Multivariate Analysis
STATS 207
Time Series Analysis
STATS 208
Resampling Methods: Bootstrap, Cross Validation and Beyond
STATS 209
Introduction to Causal Inference
STATS 217
Introduction to Stochastic Processes I
STATS 218
Introduction to Stochastic Processes II
STATS 219
Stochastic Processes
STATS 221
Random Processes on Graphs and Lattices
STATS 315B
Modern Applied Statistics: Learning II
POLISCI 110C
America and the World Economy
Students may petition courses outside of this list to be reviewed by the DUS for approval. For more information, please visit https://economics.stanford.edu/undergraduate/major opens in a new tab
Writing in Major (WIM)
WIM Courses
Completing ECON 101 (5 units) or at least 5 units of ECON 199D will meet the WIM requirement for the ECON BA.
These courses also complete the Capstone Requirement. See Capstone section below for more information.
NOTE: ECON 199D is only open for enrollment by students accepted to the ECON Honors Program. ECON 101 must be taken at Stanford in California. This course is only open to students in the final year of coursework, and should be taken only after completing ECON 51 Economic Analysis II and ECON 52 Economic Analysis III, ECON 102B Applied Econometrics, and at least two field courses. See Capstone section for more information.
Capstone
Capstone Requirement
The Economics capstone experience will consist of two components.
1. Electronic Portfolio
To be completed in junior year: All students must submit an electronic portfolio of their work in the major. Submissions will be graded for completeness by the Economics Major Faculty Advisor. Students must be declared Econ BA Majors BEFORE completing this requirement. This requirement is a prerequisite for the Economics Capstone Course or Honors Thesis.
2. Economics Policy Seminar or Honors Thesis
During their senior year, students may choose 1 of two paths to complete the second half of the economics Capstone requirement. Both options also fulfill the Writing in the Major (WIM) requirement for the major (students choosing to complete an honors thesis must complete at least 5 units of ECON 199D to fulfill their WIM requirement).
(A) Economic Policy Seminar
Graduating seniors may request permission to enroll in the Economic Policy Seminar Course, ECON 101, during the Fall, Winter, or Spring quarter of their final year of coursework.
ECON 101 is only available to students completing their final year of coursework, and enrollment is limited by application at the start of each school year. Student placement notifications will be sent out before the term starts. ECON 101 must be taken at Stanford California and may only be taken after completing ECON 51, ECON 52, ECON 102B, and at least two field courses.ch and write an honors thesis.
ECON 101
Economic Policy Seminar
(B) Economics Honors Thesis
Research and write an honors thesis under the guidance of a faculty advisor.
Students wishing to apply for the Economics Honors Thesis program must meet the following requirements by the fall quarter of their senior year:
Achieve a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.5 for the units required for the Economics major. Units of ECON 199D or ECON 139D do not count in the computation of the GPA requirement for honors. The GPA will be calculated at two points: (1) when the student applies to the honors program, and (2) at the end of the quarter in which the student graduates. If the GPA is below 3.5 at the end of the quarter in which the student graduates, the student will have to drop honors in order to graduate.
Complete ECON 102B (a core program requirement) and at least two Econ upper division courses relevant to the proposed topic of the honors thesis by the end of junior year.
More information about program requirements and expectations can be found at: https://economics.stanford.edu/undergraduate/honors-program opens in a new tab
ECON 199D
Honors Thesis Research
NOTE: Students must complete at least 5 units of 199D to meet their Writing in the Major (WIM) Requirement. See Writing in the Major section above for more information.
Honors
OptionalHonors
Honors Course Requirements
The honors program opens in a new tab offers independent research, creativity, and achievement opportunities. It is designed to encourage a more intensive study of economics than is required for the typical major, with course and research work of exceptional quality. Honors students submit their theses in writing and present them during the Honors Research Symposium during spring quarter. The honors program requires:
Completing all requirements for the ECON BA major plus five additional units, bringing the total to 85 units.
Achieving a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.5 for the required courses of the Economics BA major (excluding ECON 139D Directed Reading and ECON 199D Honors Thesis Research). See details in the Information Book for Economics Majors.
Complete ECON 102B Applied Econometrics (a core program requirement) and at least two Econ upper-division courses most relevant to the proposed topic of the honors thesis by the end of the junior year. (These can be included in the basic 80 units.)
Candidates must write and present an honors thesis in their senior year for one to nine credit units in their thesis advisor’s section of Econ 199D. Additionally, winter registration for one unit of Honors Thesis Research under the Director of the Honors Program section number (199D-20) is mandatory for all honors students. The thesis must be of very high quality and written under the direction of a member of the department or its affiliated faculty.
ECON 199D
Honors Thesis Research
Application Details
Prospective candidates should communicate with the Director of the Honors Program as soon as possible.
At the start of fall quarter of senior year, prospective candidates for the honors program must submit the following items to the Honors Program Application Form opens in a new tab:
A one-page description of the proposed thesis topic and research question
A one-page proposed timeline
Other information requested in the application form. For example, some courses taken, student information.
After you submit your application, your thesis advisor and the Director of the Honors Program will review it and (if everything is satisfactory) approve it. After you are given the go-ahead, you can declare the Econ BAH in Axess and register in ECON 199D units.
See https://economics.stanford.edu/undergraduate/honors-program opens in a new tab for current application deadlines/requirements and more information.