Economics

The Department of Economics, Finance and Legal Studies in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration at The University of Alabama offers degrees in both C&BA and Arts and Sciences at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels in economics.

The undergraduate economics program offers a breadth of courses, such as microeconomics, macroeconomics, international economics, monetary economics, law and economics, the analytical skills and abilities and to prepare graduates for promising careers in business and governement. The opportunities for students who complete a bachelor's degree in economics range from positions as government economic analysts to corporate planners for private industry, with salaries that are comparable to other business related degrees. Furthermore, a degree in economics is excellent preparation for graduate study in a wide array of fields including economics, finance, law, public policy, and the MBA. C&BA students working toward an undergraduate degree in economics must select either a specialization or an additional major. Popular additional majors are: mathematics, foreign languages, and finance. Some students qualify for programs that are available to outstanding students that are described on our website.

The masters program in economics has three different tracks to serve students with different interests. Track I is for students who wish to prepare for a Ph.D. program in economics or a related discipline, such as finance. Track II is aimed at students who want to develop the skills necessary to allow them to develop analytical models and to use and analyze data from both public and private sources to assist in the decision making process. These students would probably plan to work in the private sector or government. Track III is the policy track and students in this track would be primarily interested in developing the skills to use economics in making policy decisions. These students would usually be interested in attending public policy schools, law schools, or working in think tanks or government.

The Ph.D. economics program is for students who are interested in a career that involves research in areas related to economics. Students completing the Ph.D. degree usually pursue positions in business and government, and at academic institutions.