BS in Economics

Professor Fenizia teaches an Economics class

The Bachelor of Science in Economics provides a strong foundation in economics and mathematics. Compared with the BA in Economics degree, the BS curriculum requires slightly more material in calculus and econometrics. BS students complete seven elective courses, including options such as FORTRAN Programming, Investment and Portfolio Management, Mathematics of Finance and Introduction to the Economy of Japan.

Apply to GW

Departmental Special Honors

Declare Econ Major

Undergraduate Student Resources

"Econometrics was one of the hardest and most gratifying classes I have ever taken. The course gave me the tools to read, critique and conduct empirical research. It was like learning a new language."

Andrea Cristina Ruiz
BA ’12, Economics and International Affairs

Recommended BS Course Schedules

Students with AP Calculus credit or those who placed above MATH 1231 may move through the required MATH and STAT courses at a faster pace than this schedule indicates.

ALEKS Placement Test

Recommended Schedule: ALEKS Scores of 61+

Students with AP Calculus or Stats credit can move through the required math and stat courses at a faster pace than recommended below.

Freshman year: ECON 1011, ECON 1012, STAT 1111/1053/1051, MATH 1221/1231
Sophomore year: ECON 2101/2103, ECON 2102/2104, MATH 1232, two ECON electives and/or one required STEM elective
Junior year: ECON 2123, two econ electives and/or one required STEM elective
Senior year: Remaining econ electives and/or other remaining non-ECON electives, ECON 4198W

Recommended Schedule: ALEKS Scores Below 61

Students with ALEKS scores below 61 may find the Bachelor of Arts track a better fit.

Freshman year: ECON 1001, ECON 1011, STAT 1111/1053/1051 and MATH 1221/1231 (or any other pre-requisites needed for enrollment into these STAT and MATH courses)
Sophomore year: ECON 1012, ECON 2101/2103, MATH 1232, one ECON elective, and/or one required STEM elective
Junior year: ECON 2102/2104, ECON 2123, two ECON electives, and/or one required STEM elective
Senior year: Remaining ECON electives and/or required STEM electives, ECON 4198W

Important Notes for All Students

Students are encouraged to complete the two principles classes (ECON 1011 and ECON 1012) plus the intro stats (STAT 1111/1053/1051) and Calculus I (MATH 1221/1231) classes no later than the first semester of their sophomore year so that they are fully prepared for entry into the economics major.
We recommend that students take intermediate micro prior to taking intermediate macro as it will enhance students’ understanding of the macro material.
Intermediate micro and macro as well as econometrics and three ECON electives are pre-requisites for the capstone proseminar course (ECON 4198W). Students will not be allowed to enroll in proseminar until they have completed these pre-requisites. It is therefore imperative to plan ahead and finish these pre-requisite courses by the end of the first semester of senior year.
We strongly recommend completing all ECON BS major requirements prior to enrolling in ECON 4198W. Materials covered in the required major classes will be extremely helpful to students in completing their research projects in the proseminar course.
For students wishing to study abroad in their junior year, you are encouraged to only transfer back ECON electives courses. We recommend taking the core theory classes (ECON 2101/2103, 2102/2104, 2123) at GW

Course Requirements

The following requirements must be fulfilled:

The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Undergraduate Programs and the following curricular requirements.

Program-specific curriculum:

Code	Title	Credits
Required core courses
ECON 1011	Principles of Economics I ^*
ECON 1012	Principles of Economics II
ECON 2101	Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
or ECON 2103	Intermediate Microeconomic Theory: A Mathematical Approach
ECON 2102	Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory
or ECON 2104	Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory: A Mathematical Approach
ECON 2123	Introduction to Econometrics
MATH 1221	Calculus with Precalculus II
or MATH 1231	Single-Variable Calculus I
MATH 1232	Single-Variable Calculus II
STAT 1111	Business and Economic Statistics I (or equivalent)
or STAT 1051	Introduction to Business and Economic Statistics
or STAT 1053	Introduction to Statistics in Social Science
STEM electives
Two courses (6 credits) selected from the following and completed with a minimum grade of C-:
CSCI 1011	Introduction to Programming with Java
CSCI 1012	Introduction to Programming with Python
CSCI 1111	Introduction to Software Development
CSCI 1112	Algorithms and Data Structures
CSCI 1311	Discrete Structures I
DATS 1001	Data Science for All
DATS 2102	Data Visualization for Data Science
DATS 2103	Data Mining for Data Science
DATS 2104	Data Warehousing for Data Science
EMSE 2705	Mathematics of Operations Research
EMSE 3850	Quantitative Models in Systems Engineering
MATH 2184	Linear Algebra I
MATH 2233	Multivariable Calculus ^**
MATH 2971	Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning ^**
MATH 3342	Ordinary Differential Equations ^**
MATH 3410	Mathematics of Finance ^**
MATH 4239	Real Analysis I ^**
STAT 1129	Introduction to Computing
STAT 2183	Intermediate Statistics Lab/Packages
STAT 3119	Design and Analysis of Experiments
STAT 3157	Introduction to Mathematical Statistics I
STAT 3187	Introduction to Sampling
STAT 4158	Introduction to Mathematical Statistics II
STAT 4181	Applied Time Series Analysis
STAT 4188	Nonparametric Statistics Inference
STAT 4189	Mathematical Probability and Applications I
STAT 4190	Mathematical Probability and Applications II
STAT 4197	Fundamentals of SAS Programming for Data Management
Additional electives
Six courses (18 credits) in Economics (ECON) electives numbered between 2000 and 4999 are required. At least one of these courses should be numbered between 3000 and 3999 and at least one should be an ECON WID course. The following guidelines and restrictions apply to this requirement:
FINA 3101 and/or FINA 3301 can be used as substitutes for up to two ECON elective courses numbered between 2000 and 4999. Credit cannot be earned for both FINA 3301 and ECON 2121.
ECON 3098, ECON 3099, FINA 3101, and FINA 3301 are not considered 3000-level ECON electives and therefore do not fulfill the requirement for one 3-credit ECON course numbered from 3000 to 3999.
No more than three of the following courses can be taken to fulfill this requirement: ECON 2169, ECON 2198, ECON 3098, and ECON 3198.
No more than two of the following courses can be used to fulfill this requirement: ECON 2180, ECON 2181, and ECON 2182. ECON 2180 does not satisfy the major elective requirement if taken concurrently with or after successful completion of ECON 2181 or ECON 2182.

^*Post-matriculation residency requirement: ECON 1011 must be taken at GW to count toward the major. Students who matriculate with AP or transfer credit for ECON 1011 are exempt from this residency requirement.

^**MATH 2233, MATH 2971, MATH 3342, MATH 3410, and MATH 4239 are strongly recommended for students planning to pursue graduate studies in economics.