Economics

Career potential

A variety of business careers are available to you when you choose to study economics. Economics is the study of decision making, and the course work in this area focuses on making decisions in a business environment. You will study the short-term and long-term effects on an industry resulting from changes in government policy, technology and other important factors. In addition, you learn about the workings of the overall economy and the forces that affect it.

As a business economist, you may be employed in banking, communications, energy, insurance, investment, manufacturing, oil and gas extraction, retailing, transportation, or the utility industries. You may work for an international trade association or a governmental agency such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Trade Commission or the Treasury department. Some business economists work for consulting firms or are self-employed as consultants.

Studying economics will prepare you for law school. Research from the Law School Admissions Test shows that, among majors with 2,200 or more students taking the LSAT exam, economics students had the highest scores. Recent economics graduates have attended law school at Harvard, Texas, Cornell, Baylor, Houston, Texas Tech and SMU.

Studying economics will prepare you for the master of business administration program. If you want to become a research economist working for a consulting firm or a university, you will need to earn a master's and possibly a doctoral degree in economics. Otherwise, a bachelor's degree should provide you with the skills employers demand.

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

Majoring in economics

The College of Business Administration is accredited by AACSB International — the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (777 South Harbour Island Blvd., Suite 750, Tampa, Fla. 33602-5730, telephone 813-769-6500). That means the college has passed strict academic standards for excellence in education.

UNT offers a bachelor of business administration degree with a professional field in economics.

As an economics major, you will study consumer choice theory; demand and supply analysis; factors affecting employment, income level and output; financial institutions and money; market equilibrium under different market structures; national income concepts and measurements; and production and cost theory. Courses offered by the economics department in the College of Arts and Sciences focus on a variety of areas including econometrics, labor economics, law and economics, economics of sports, international trade, managerial finance, public economics, and urban economics.

Faculty members in the Department of Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Law — the department from which you receive your B.B.A. degree — are professionals in their fields as well as dedicated teachers. Three faculty members were named Regents Professors for outstanding research and teaching. Regents Professors devote at least half of their teaching load to introductory-level courses. Another faculty member received UNT's Shelton Excellence in Teaching Award.

You may make connections with business professionals through the UNT Economics Club, which sponsors guest speakers, and Omicron Delta Epsilon, an honor society for economics students.

Various scholarships are available specifically for economics students. Contact the Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Law or Economics departments for more information.

Getting hands-on experience

Many economics majors develop valuable skills though internships. The department's placement officer can provide critical assistance in locating positions and assigning faculty members to oversee your progress.

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. 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.

You also may gain work experience in economics without leaving campus by working in one of the research centers in the Department of Economics in the College of Arts and Sciences. These centers include the Center for Economic Education, the Center for Environmental Economic Studies and Research, and the Center for International Economic Studies and Research.

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 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

Full-time staff advisors in the College of Business Administration will help you each semester to select courses necessary to earn your degree. In addition, the faculty member who is the student advisor for the Department of Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Law can also assist you. All economics students pursuing a B.B.A. are also assigned an economics faculty member as an advisor. The Department of Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Law office is in the Business Administration Building, Room 177. The College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Economics is in Hickory Hall, Room 254.

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