University of Dayton,Department of Economics and Finance

Economics provides a logical way of looking at a variety of problems. The field of economics covers topics ranging from making sound business decisions to tackling some of society's most challenging issues. It is not possible to fully understand business decisions, politics, social reforms, or international relations without an understanding of their economic bases. An undergraduate education in economics enables individuals to better understand and help resolve problems in today's business and society.

Lawrence H. Summers, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury says, "The language of public policy is increasingly the language of economics, and sophisticated policy formulation depends to an ever greater extent on an understanding of economic concepts." Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1999.

By carefully choosing the courses you take within Economics and the courses you take to complement that major, you can prepare yourself for careers in business, government, law, or academics.

Economics offers excellent preparation for law school as shown in a recent study by Michael Nieswiadomy in the Journal of Economic Education (1998).

"The average LSAT scores of disciplines with more than 2,000 students who applied for 1991-92 or 1994-95 law school admission are shown in Table 1. Economics majors ranked first among these majors in both years! The most popular major for law school, political science, ranked at or below the average scores of 151.6 (1994-95) and 151.9 (1991-92) for all students. Criminology (which includes criminal justice) ranked last."

Marketability and Career Advancement

A major in economics is attractive to many job recruiters and graduate school admissions officers because economic thinking is clear and rigorous. The economics degree is probably the least focused of the business disciplines with regard to development of specific technical skills which prepare students for specific employment markets, such as accounting. Instead, it prepares students for many professional careers since it can be applied to a wide range of real-world problems. The analytical training emphasized in an economics major will enhance your career advancement since it makes you more adaptable to changing opportunities after graduation.