Economics

Career potential

Economics majors usually begin careers in business and government. These jobs are interesting and financially rewarding. University of North Texas economics majors hold positions in a variety of areas.

About 48 percent of the nation's economists work for private firms in fields such as banking, consulting, finance, financial services, health care, insurance, international trade, labor relations and marketing. Some recent graduates are employed by Allstate, American Airlines, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Poly-America, Rapp Collins Worldwide, SAS software company, Standard & Poor's, Texaco and Verizon, among others.

Economics will also prepare you for work in a federal agency such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Trade Commission and the Treasury Department. Some of our graduates work for the Office of the Attorney General of Texas, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Economics may be a good major if you would like to live and work overseas. Many international jobs available in the federal government, the United Nations, international organizations, nonprofit organizations, and international business and banking firms are held by employees with backgrounds in economics.

Economics is also helpful if you want to enter law school. Research from the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) has shown that, among majors with 2,200 or more students taking the exam, economics students had the highest scores. Some recent graduates have attended law school at Harvard, Texas, Cornell, Baylor, Houston, Texas Tech and SMU.

If you wish to become a research economist working at a university or for a consulting firm, you will need to earn a master's degree and possibly a doctoral degree.

The economics department emphasizes job placement and has designated a faculty member as a placement officer. The placement officer locates job openings, helps prepare students for interviews and develops internships for economics majors with private and public institutions in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

UNT's Career Center can help you prepare to pursue your career. The center has information about jobs and employers, and the staff can help you with resume and letter writing, job search strategies, and interview preparation.

Majoring in economics

At its heart, economics is the study of decision making. Many decisions focus on the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Based on our understanding of how people make decisions, you will learn how to analyze the effects of changes in technology, government policy and other factors on households, businesses, income and industries. In the introductory courses, you will learn the basics of the market process and how income, inflation and unemployment are determined at the national level. Other areas you will explore include:

• the effects of free trade and protectionism
• economic issues of the developing world
• the development of economic thought since the middle ages
• why cities exist and their development
• the decisions that allow firms to maximize profit
• how non-renewable resources can be efficiently managed
• the effects of governmental health care policies
• why markets fail and strategies to correct that failure
• how to get the most useful information out of economic data

The Department of Economics offers a bachelor of science and a bachelor of arts with a major in economics. Also offered through the College of Business is a bachelor of business administration with a major in economics.

You will benefit from the personal attention of our faculty members who will help you develop the skills necessary for a career in business and economic analysis. Faculty members are well-known experts in their fields. They have written hundreds of articles and books on general economics topics and their specific fields of study. Several faculty members have received university teaching awards, including two recipients of UNT's Shelton Excellence in Teaching Award and a recipient of the Southern Economics Association's Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award.

Scholarships are awarded to outstanding economics majors, usually during their junior and senior years. Undergraduate scholarships vary from several hundred dollars to $1,000, depending upon gifts received from alumni. Current scholarships are the Undergraduate Scholarship for Academic Excellence, the Lewis M. Abernathy Scholarship, the Tom Preston Scholarship, the Abe Melton Scholarship, the Chuck Balcar Memorial Scholarship and the George Benz Memorial Scholarship.

You are encouraged to join the UNT Economics Club, a student organization that promotes students interests in economics and in the economics profession. The club's mission is to provide fellowship and a forum for innovative ideas to benefit the UNT community. Any UNT student with at least 6 hours in economics is eligible to be an active member. Club activities include field trips, guest speakers and other programs of interest to students. Students who qualify may also join the Omicron Delta Epsilon, an international economics honor society.

If you wish to teach economics in secondary schools in Texas, you must complete the state's teacher certification requirements. Students preparing to take the TExES/ExCET (Texas Educator Certification Exams) should take courses on the principles of macroeconomics and microeconomics, the economics of consumption, and international trade.

Getting hands-on experience

Upon completion of 12 semester hours at UNT with at least a 2.5 GPA, you may work in a job related to your major through UNT's Cooperative Education and Internships office. You may earn academic credit and money and gain valuable work experience. Co-op employers pay extremely well, and the jobs usually last several semesters, often until graduation.

More than 1,800 employers work with the office to provide excellent learning opportunities, many of which become permanent full-time positions upon graduation. The office assists with placing students in internships, which last for one full semester or summer.

The department's placement officer can also provide assistance in locating internships and assign a faculty member to oversee your progress. You may gain additional work experience by working on a project in one of the department's research centers.

The Center for Economic Education is committed to making formal instruction in economics more accessible to K-12 teachers and students throughout Texas. The center received the 2005 Albert Beekhuis Award as the top center in economic education from the National Council on Economic Education.

The Center for Environmental Economic Studies and Research conducts and coordinates environmental economics research and complementary activities at the UNT campus. The center's research has been focused on the areas of water, garbage, biodiversity and property rights.

The Center for International Economic Studies and Research promotes research on the economic problems of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe. The center is actively involved in analyzing the role of small businesses and microenterprises in developing nations. The center also develops relationships with other public and private institutions for joint conferences, scholar exchanges and other activities.

Preparing for UNT

If you are a high school student, we suggest you prepare for college by becoming computer proficient and taking:

• English … 4 years
• Math … 4 years
• Social science - economics, geography, government, history … 4 years
• Science … 3 years
• Foreign language … 3 years
• Fine arts … 1 year

You will need to take courses in most of these subjects under the university core curriculum required of all undergraduates, in addition to your major courses. Talk with your high school counselor about preparing for college, including the entrance exams (SAT Reasoning Test or ACT) that you should take during your junior year.

As a benefit for transfer students, UNT participates in the Texas Common Course Numbering System. This system makes it easier to transfer credits for general academic courses from one Texas institution to another.

If you're attending a Texas community college, you should consult the UNT Transfer Guide, the UNT Undergraduate Catalog and an academic counselor/advisor to discuss your degree plan. Proper planning will help you receive the maximum amount of transfer credits.

Charting your path with academic advising

Faculty members in the Department of Economics will help you each semester to select courses you will need to earn your degree. Every economics major also is assigned a faculty member as a mentor. The mentor can help you chart a career path and meet other challenges associated with university life.

You may discuss academic or career concerns with any of our faculty members. The Department of Economics is in Hickory Hall, Room 254.

Curious about courses and other features of this major?
See the current catalog.