Program Learning Objectives
- Apply economic reasoning to evaluate everyday problems.
- Demonstrate correct use of economic analyses to evaluate specific business proposals, economic policy proposals and current events.
- Recognize the role of assumptions about the structure of the economy as well as ethical assumptions in arguments made for and against economic policy issues.
- Describe how to use empirical evidence to evaluate an economic argument.
- Summarize statistical methodology and interpret statistical evidence.
- Conduct appropriate statistical analysis of data, and explain the statistical problems involved.
- Communicate effectively about specific economics issues.
- Identify and examine diverse perspectives when evaluating business, economic and social policy reform.
Degree Requirements and Curriculum
In addition to the program requirements on this page, students must also satisfy requirements outlined in more detail in the Minimum Requirements for Graduation section of this catalog, including:
- 60 units of upper-division courses
- Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR)
- 2.0 GPA
- U.S. Cultural Pluralism (USCP)
| MAJOR COURSES | ||
| ECON 221 | Microeconomics | 4 |
| ECON 222 | Macroeconomics (D2) 1 | 4 |
| ECON 311 & ECON 312 | Intermediate Microeconomics I and Intermediate Microeconomics II | 8 |
| ECON 313 | Intermediate Macroeconomics | 4 |
| ECON 339 | Econometrics | 4 |
| ECON 460 | Research Methodology in Applied Economics | 4 |
| Select from the following: | 4 | |
| Senior Project I and Senior Project II | ||
| Applied Senior Project | ||
| ECON electives (ECON 202 or a 300-400 level) | 4 | |
| ECON electives (400 level) | 16 | |
| General Curriculum in Economics or Concentration 2 | 28 | |
| SUPPORT COURSES | ||
| BUS 207 | Legal Responsibilities of Business | 4 |
| BUS 214 | Financial Accounting | 4 |
| BUS 215 | Managerial Accounting | 4 |
| MATH 141 | Calculus I (B4) 1,3 | 4 |
| STAT 301 & STAT 302 | Statistics I and Statistics II | 8 |
| Select from the following: | 4-8 | |
| Information Systems and Business Application Development | ||
| Fundamentals of Computer Science | ||
| Programming for Economics and Analytics | ||
| GENERAL EDUCATION (GE) | ||
| (See GE program requirements below.) | 64 | |
| FREE ELECTIVES | ||
| Free Electives | 4-8 | |
| Total units | 180 | |
| 1 | Required in Major or Support; also satisfies General Education (GE) requirement. |
| 2 | Economics majors may choose a concentration. Students who choose not to declare a concentration follow the General Curriculum in Economics: Complete at least 8 units of upper-division (300-400 level) ECON courses plus 20 units of any upper-division courses. |
| 3 | Students pursuing the Quantitative Analysis concentration should take MATH 141 and MATH 142, instead of just MATH 141. |
General Curriculum in Economics, or Concentration
Students who choose to follow the General Curriculum in Economics must complete at least 8 units of upper-division (300-400 level) ECON courses plus 20 units of any upper-division courses.
Alternatively, students select from the following concentrations:
- Accounting
- Consumer Packaging
- Entrepreneurship
- Financial Management
- Information Systems
- Management and Human Resources
- Marketing Management
- Quantitative Analysis
- Real Estate Finance
General Education (GE) Requirements
- 72 units required, 8 of which are specified in Major and/or Support.
- If any of the remaining 64 units is used to satisfy a Major or Support requirement, additional units of Free Electives may be needed to complete the total units required for the degree.
- See the complete GE course listing.
- A grade of C- or better is required in one course in each of the following GE Areas: A1 (Oral Communication), A2 (Written Communication), A3 (Critical Thinking), and B4 (Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning).
| Area A | English Language Communication and Critical Thinking | |
| A1 | Oral Communication | 4 |
| A2 | Written Communication | 4 |
| A3 | Critical Thinking | 4 |
| Area B | Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning | |
| B1 | Physical Science | 4 |
| B2 | Life Science | 4 |
| B3 | One lab taken with either a B1 or B2 course | |
| B4 | Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning (4 units in Support) 1 | 0 |
| Upper-Division B | 4 | |
| Area C | Arts and Humanities | |
| Lower-division courses in Area C must come from three different subject prefixes. | ||
| C1 | Arts: Arts, Cinema, Dance, Music, Theater | 4 |
| C2 | Humanities: Literature, Philosophy, Languages other than English | 4 |
| Lower-Division C Elective - Select a course from either C1 or C2 | 4 | |
| Upper-Division C | 4 | |
| Area D | Social Sciences - Select courses in Area D from at least two different prefixes | |
| D1 | American Institutions (Title 5, Section 40404 Requirement) | 4 |
| D2 | Lower-Division D (4 units in Major) 1 | 0 |
| Upper-Division D | 4 | |
| Area E | Lifelong Learning and Self-Development | |
| Lower-Division E | 4 | |
| Area F | Ethnic Studies | |
| F | Ethnic Studies | 4 |
| GE Electives in Areas B, C, and D | ||
| Select courses from two different areas; may be lower-division or upper-division courses. | ||
| GE Electives | 8 | |
| Total units | 64 | |
| 1 | Required in Major or Support; also satisfies General Education (GE) requirement. |
San Luis Obispo, California 93407