Economics (Master of Arts)
Department of Economics | College of Arts & Sciences

Economics students at Roosevelt University may study for either the B.A. or M.A. degree in economics.

Economics at Roosevelt University goes beyond the conventional economics that is taught at most universities in the United States and presents students with economic analysis from the perspective of alternative schools of thought. Roosevelt is one of the few universities in the United States where students can study economics from Institutionalist, Post Keynesian, and Marxist points of view, in addition to mainstream Neoclassical and Keynesian points of view.

Currently, graduate programs in Economics at most institutions are dominated by very conservative faculty and curriculum. Roosevelt is one of the few Universities in the United States to provide students with an opportunity to study alternative schools of thought. M.A. students at Roosevelt University may study economics from Post Keynesian, Institutionalist, and Marxist points of view, as well as from the more conventional Keynesian and Neoclassical views.

The MA program is designed for students whose career goals include:

(i) graduate studies preparing for the Ph.D. degree;
(ii) working as business, financial, government, or labor economists;
(iii) teaching in secondary schools and community colleges; or
(iv) the satisfaction of knowing what makes the world go round. An undergraduate degree in economics is not required for admission.

Faculty Research

Economics faculty at Roosevelt University are actively pursuing research in areas such as poverty and discrimination, entrepreneurship for the poor, feminist economics, political economy of deregulation, and alternatives to World Bank policies.

Requirements for Admission

Normally, a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university and a grade point average of 2.7 (B) are required for admission.

Degree Requirements

• Twelve courses or 36 semester hours at the 300 and 400 levels, as listed in the graduate catalog and as approved by the graduate advisor, all to be taken after the bachelor's degree has been received. Graduate economics credit is not given for Economics 403, Adsc 401, or Adsc 412, or for any of the administrative science background courses listed in the catalog under business administration.
• The twelve required courses must include: (1) Econ 363, (2) Econ 421 and Econ 423, to be taken within the first year of graduate study in economics and passed with grades of B or higher; (3) Econ 436, (4) Econ 440 and Econ 465 (note that Econ 363 is a prerequisite for both of these courses), (5) Econ 446, and (6) five electives, three of which must be 400-level economics courses. Any elective courses taken outside of Economics must be at the 400-level and be approved by an advisor.
• Students may elect to write a master's thesis in lieu of some of the requirements listed above. If so, only 30 semester hours are required, including Econ 490 (Thesis). Under this option, students are required to take only two 400-level economics electives, are not required to take Econ 446, and need only take either Econ 440 or Econ 465, not both. Students pursuing the thesis option must obtain a thesis advisor from among the regular economics faculty early in their studies.

Faculty

• Steven Balkin, Ph.D., Wayne State University
• James Cicarelli, Ph.D., University of Connecticut
• Gary F. Langer, Ph.D., University of California, Riverside
• June Lapidus, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• Ozgur Orhangazi, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• Sam Rosenberg, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
• Stephen Ziliak, Ph.D., University of Iowa (faculty web site)

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