With the academic resources and research expertise of economics faculty in two colleges — the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Poole College of Management — our graduate students experience uniquely rich research and learning, preparing them for leadership in today’s dynamic, global marketplace. It’s not surprising we consistently place graduates as professors in these fields at major land-grant universities and research institutions.

You can also pursue a Master of Science in economics or a Master of Economics. For currently enrolled undergraduate students, we offer the accelerated bachelor’s / master’s degree program.

Our master’s degree programs allow students to tailor their experience to match their own research interests and career goals. Students choose a terminal master’s track or a PhD-prep track, dependant on their personal objectives. Students also choose between a research project culminating in a thesis (the MS degree) or a coursework only option (the MR degree). Attending full-time or part-time is an option, and almost all courses are available online or in a variety of on-campus sessions.

Many master’s degree students enter the job market following graduation and gain employment as consultants, analysts and researchers in private industry and government while others pursue additional graduate work at NC State or other respected universities.

Prerequisites

• An undergraduate degree in economics is not required for admission to our master’s programs.
• Applicants to the master’s programs must have completed formal coursework in intermediate microeconomic theory and intermediate macroeconomic theory. (Self-study and personal inquiry are not substitutes for formal coursework.)
• Applicants to the terminal master’s track must have completed Calculus I, Calculus II and a statistics course.
• Applicants to the PhD-prep master’s track must have completed Calculus I, Calculus II, Calculus III, Linear Algebra and a statistics course.

Minimum Admissions Requirements

Admission decisions are based on an undergraduate academic record, three letters of recommendation and a personal statement. GRE scores are not required. Admitted students must have an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 (B) or better.

The Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s (ABM) degree program enables exceptional undergraduate economics students at NC State to complete the requirements for both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees at an accelerated pace.

A student can count up to 12 credit hours of graduate level courses toward a Bachelor’s degree (in Economics or Agricultural Business Management) and toward a subsequent Master’s degree.