Economics

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Job Openings for Economists: More appropriate for graduate students

Important Documents for Potential Students

Department's Graduate Studies Brochure

Department Information from Graduate Catalog

Financial Aid Options

Important Information Regarding Graduate Assistantships

Application for Graduate Assistantship

Contact Information

Mr. Roger Wehr
Graduate Advisor
Office 301, College of Business
817.272.3287
wehr@uta.edu

This page contains general information about graduate studies in economics. Official information can be found in the Graduate Catalog.

Applicants meeting the general admission requirements of the Graduate School including a satisfactory score on either the Graduate Record Examination or the Graduate Management Admission Test, may be admitted unconditionally to the program. Other applicants may be admitted if approved by the Graduate Advisor in economics and the Graduate Dean. Applicants admitted but not having 12 semester hours of advanced courses in economics or not meeting prerequisite requirements for core courses are admitted subject to conditions assessed by the Graduate Advisor in economics.

Application Deadlines

The Graduate School of the University of Texas at Arlington has strict deadlines for the application process. It is mandatory that students who wish to apply for the Masters of Arts in Economics program do so before the deadlines pass. The exact deadlines can be accessed here. The following table reports the general deadlines:

It is important that these deadlines are respected. The Department of Economics cannot guarantee that applications received after the deadlines posted by the Graduate School will receive full consideration during the current recruiting season.

Degrees Offered

Master's Degree (with Thesis):

A minimum of 30 semester hours is required. The core requirement is ECON 5301, 5310, 5312, 5336, and the thesis (for which a six hour credit is received). Six hours of electives in economics must be chosen. The remaining six hours of electives may be a combination of courses in economics or in a minor field. A maximum of nine hours of advanced undergraduate courses may be taken for graduate credit, with the approval of the Graduate Advisor. Not more than six hours of such courses may be in either the major or the minor field.

Master's Degree (Non-thesis):

The non-thesis degree option is designed for students who will enter the job market upon completion of the MA degree in economics. This degree plan requires a minimum of 36 semester hours, including a core of ECON 5301, 5310, 5312, 5336 and 5329. The total may include up to 12 semester hours in supporting subjects with the approval of the Graduate Advisor. A maximum of nine semester hours of advanced undergraduate work may be taken for graduate credit, with the approval of the Graduate Advisor. Successful completion of ECON 5329 satisfies the Graduate School requirement of a final master's examination.

Our program is designed to prepare students for careers in the private and government sectors that require solid analytical and quantitative skills. The program provides the skills and knowledge required by a broad spectrum of private and government entities from people who are joining the labor market for the first time or want to move up in their organization. Our location in the College of Business allows students the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of business electives to meet specific career objectives. The program also provides a strong foundation for those who want to pursue a doctoral degree. We emphasize the development of strong analytical and quantitative tools useful in a wide variety of environments. Areas of emphasis include economic modeling and forecasting and international business economics.  

The Department of Economics offers both thesis and non-thesis degree programs leading to an MA in Economics. The thesis degree program requires 30 credit hours of graduate course work: 18 credit hours of course work in economics, a thesis for which 6 credit hours are earned, and an additional 6 hours--some or all of which may be outside of economics. Four economics courses are required: mathematics for economists, microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics. The non-thesis degree program requires 36 credit hours of graduate course work: 24 credit hours of course work in economics and an additional 12 hours--some or all of which may be in a field other than economics. Five courses are required of all students who pursue the non-thesis option: mathematics for economists, microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, and research methods in applied economics.

The Department of Economics has a regular schedule of course offerings throughout the year. The following table indicates current course offerings. ECON5329 is a required course for those who do not write a thesis. ECON5329 and ECON5337 will move to the Fall starting in 2006 and ECON5338 will move to the Summer starting in 2006.

If a student is interested in obtaining another graduate degree such as an MBA or an MS in Marketing Research while he/she is working towards an MA degree in Economics, the student can apply for a dual degree program. A student in dual degree programs must be admitted to each program concerned and must submit separate Programs of Work for each degree showing only courses which meet requirements for the specified degree, including those joint courses which meet requirements for both degrees (a maximum of 12 hours can be applied to both degrees when the total number of hours required for both degrees is between 60 and 72 hours). A student must be admitted to the second degree before completing more than 15 hours in the first, exclusive of leveling, deficiency or foundation courses. The dual degree program requires prior approval of the appropriate Committee on Graduate Studies and the Dean of the Graduate School. Admission and enrollment in the programs concerned in a dual degree program must be concurrent. More precise information is provided in "Dual Degree Program" in the graduate catalogue which supersedes this brochure.

Popular dual degree programs include the MBA and the Masters in Quantitative Finance

Our program is designed to provide the opportunity for working and part-time students to obtain a Master's Degree without sacrificing their current income or job. All of our graduate classes are offered in the evening. Well prepared, full-time students can finish in as little time as a year, while part-time students can finish within two to three years. Additional flexibility is provided by allowing students to enter the program at the beginning of the fall, spring or summer semesters.  

A student must have successfully completed a course in intermediate microeconomics, intermediate macroeconomics, and business statistics or mathematical statistics. If a student is admitted without having taken some or all of the courses listed above, he or she must enroll in the missing course(s) on a deficiency basis as specified by the graduate advisor.  

The Economics Graduate Studies Committee has approved both the GRE waiver and the advanced admission policies for our program.

The GRE waiver policy applies to UTA graduates with a major in economics (B.A., B.S., or BBA) who have completed their degrees in the last three years and have completed the last 60 hours at UTA. Students must have a 3.0 overall at UTA, in their major at UTA, in all advanced work at UTA, and in the last 60 hours at UTA.

The advanced admission policy applies to UTA economics majors (B.A., B.S, or BBA) who graduated no more than one year prior to entrance in the graduate program. The student must have a 3.5 in all undergraduate work at UTA and a 3.5 in all 3000-4000 level economics courses at UTA, and at least 21 hours in the major.

Students may receive contingent admission for both these requirements if they have not yet completed their last undergraduate semester. This contingency would be removed upon condition of the degree. GPA’s will not be recalculated upon completion of the degree.

Tuition and fees are set by the Coordination Board subject to change by legislative action. Tuition and fees for in-state students for the 2000-01 year are about $1500 for a typical 9-hour load. For out-of-state students, the equivalent figure is approximately $3500. More precise information is provided in the Graduate Catalog which supersedes this web page.

A limited number of assistantships are available for qualified full-time students. In addition, the department occasionally offers scholarships to outstanding students, awarded on a competitive basis. Under certain conditions, this financial assistance qualifies the student for a reduction in tuition to in-state levels. To offer financial assistance to as many students as possible, the recipient of a scholarship offered by the Department of Economics is not eligible for an assistantship provided by the Department of Economics and vice-versa.

The decision to offer financial aid is predicated upon unconditional admission to the Masters in Arts in Economics program. No financial aid decision will be made before the admission process has been completed, NO EXCEPTIONS.

Scholarships         

The award of  a scholarship will not be affected in any  way by race, religion, creed, or gender, but will be awarded on the basis of the student’s potential and interest in a degree program in economics.  

To qualify for a scholarship, (1) a student must have a 3.4 GPA or better as computed by the Graduate School, (2) a student must be an M.A. graduate student in economics, and (3) a student must be enrolled in a minimum of six credit hours per semester. 

The amount of each scholarship is between $1,000-2,500 and the number of awards varies year to year.

Students interested should apply by August 1 of each year with a completed application form, a letter describing goals, achievements and career interests in economics, and two letters of recommendation to the Roger Wehr, Graduate Advisor, Department of Economics, P.O. Box 19479, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019.

Departmental scholarships are offered once a year. Applications are considered during the summer semester and any awards are determined before the start of the fall semester. Department scholarships are reserved for exceptional students and the department may award no scholarships in a given academic year.

A list of past departmental scholarship recipients is available here.

Departmental Scholarship Application Form:
MS Word Format
Adobe Format

Assistantships 

Application for Graduate Assistantship

To qualify as a graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Economics, (1) the current status of a student must be unconditional and (2) the student must be enrolled as a full-time student. In addition, an international student must satisfy the English proficiency requirement. For selecting assistants, first priority will be given to students in the M.A. program in economics.     

Even though a student has been awarded an assistantship or a scholarship, an assistantship or a scholarship alone will not be enough to cover all expenses at The University of Texas at Arlington and the student must have his or her own additional funds to study at the university.

The international office sets the financial requirements for an international student which include  tuition, living expenses, insurance and books and supplies. The 12- month requirement is $21,184.00 and the 9-month requirement is $17,390.00.

Graduates of the MA program in economics have gone on to Ph.D. work at several top programs or have found employment in the private and public sectors and hold management and research positions. Recent employers in the private sector include airlines, telephone companies, electric utility companies, banks and investment companies. Employers in the public sector include the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Treasury Department, General Accounting Office, Corps of Engineers, municipal and state governments, and state regulatory commissions.

The University of Texas at Arlington is located on a modern, 390-acre campus in the center of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. A rapidly growing library with the latest on-line technology, well-equipped engineering and science laboratories, several specialized research centers, and joint programs with other institutions of The University of Texas System as well as with other regional and national academic and research institutions provide the graduate student at UTA with excellent opportunities for advanced study and research. The campus and Metroplex area offer a wide variety of cultural and recreational facilities including art, historical and science museums, operas, concerts, ballet, theater, amusement parks, professional sports, and several lakes for water sports.

UTA is one of the fifteen  institutions in The University of Texas System. It is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university comprises the Colleges of Business Administration, Engineering, Liberal Arts, and Science; the Schools of Social Work, Architecture, Nursing, and Urban and Public Affairs; the Center for Professional Teacher Education, and the Graduate School. The bachelor's and master's degree programs in accounting and business administration are accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business.

Founded in 1895 as Arlington College, a private liberal arts institution, UTA has changed with the times and its surroundings, undergoing a maturing process and a succession of names, ownership and missions. Its final name change came in 1967 when it became The University of Texas at Arlington (or UTA). The student body has become increasingly diversified with students from 49 states and 85 foreign countries enrolled at the present time. Today the enrollment is almost 17,000 undergraduate and about 4,000 graduate students.

The UTA College of Business Administration has earned a reputation for having a strong faculty that offers high-quality graduate programs. As a result of programs and other quality considerations, the College is accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The College received initial AACSB accreditation for its undergraduate program in 1969 and for its MBA program in 1973.

All College of Business Administration programs are offered in the Business Building. The building is a modern six-story office tower with an adjoining three-story education wing. These facilities enable the College to deliver high quality professional education to over 4,500 undergraduate students, and almost 900 master's and PhD students.

In addition to the MA program in Economics, the College offers nine other graduate degree programs including a Doctoral program in Business Administration. Master's programs in Business Administration, Professional Accounting, Accounting, Information Systems, Marketing Research, Personnel and Human Resource Management, Real Estate, and Taxation are also offered.

THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

The Department of Economics is part of the College of Business Administration and employs 7 full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty members with the expectation that the department will expand to 10 full-time tenured and tenure-tarck faculty. Faculty publications appear regularly in top-ranked general and field journals.

Degree programs include a BA in economics, BS in economics, BBA with concentration in economics, MA in economics, and a PhD in Business Administration with concentration in economics (not currently active). The Department has approximately 110 undergraduate majors and 30 pursuing graduate degrees.

APPLICATIONS

Applications and other necessary forms are provided in the Graduate Admissions Guide. Prospective students must apply to the Graduate School by early June for Fall admission, early October for Spring admission, and early March for Summer admission. International students need to apply earlier.

For your convenience, you may download both the U.S. and the International/Permanent Resident student application for admission from UTA Graduate School’s Home page:

The information on this page is superseded in all matters by the official UTA Graduate Catalog.

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