Summary of Major Requirements for Economics

The requirements for an economics major include a total of eleven courses plus the senior thesis. The titles of the required courses are listed below. Complete course descriptions can be found in the Bates College Catalog.

Introductory Courses (2)

Econ 101 Principles of Microeconomics: Prices and Markets

Econ 103 Principles of Macroeconomics: Income and Employment

Core Courses (4)

Econ 250 Statistics¹

Econ 255 Econometrics

Econ 260 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory

Econ 270 Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory

Math Course (1)

Math 105 Differential Calculus

Electives (4)

Four advanced (300-level) economics courses or three 300-levels and one eligible 200-level courses.

Prerequisites for advanced courses normally include Econ 255, 260 and/or 270.

Eligible 200-level courses include any economics course numbered between 220 and 249.

In addition, majors may substitute one of the following courses for a 200-level elective:

Anthropology 339: Production and Reproduction

Political Science 222: International Political Economy

Sociology 260: Economic Sociology

Please note: Economics majors must complete at least three of the four core courses at Bates and at least two of their 300-level electives at Bates.

Senior Thesis (1)

Econ 457, Senior Thesis, is taken by all majors in the senior year after completing at least two of the 300-level electives. Honors students take Econ 457-458, so the thesis work is done over two semesters.

[1]The following statistics courses from other departments may be substituted for Economics 250 for purposes of the major: Biology 244, Biostatistics; Mathematics 315, Statistics; Psychology 218: Statistics and Experimental Design.