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B.A. in Economics Major (ECON-BA-001, formerly EN25)

The Bachelor of Arts in Economics (ECON-BA-001, formerly EN25) is our more flexible degree, tailored for students who want to combine economics with other fields of study and do not necessarily seek the most advanced analytical training. It requires 17 courses.

Similar to the B.S., the Economics B.A. teaches students to understand human and firm behavior through the lens of economic incentives, strategic interactions, and data, with attention to implications for policy choices at the local, national, and international levels. The B.A. features lighter lower division requirements and a shorter intermediate microeconomic sequence. The same wide range of elective courses as in the B.S. are available for students to choose from, but with no requirement on the number of advanced electives. The lighter requirements of the Economics B.A. facilitate the pairing of the degree with a second major for students who are interested in a double major degree or in adding a minor to their undergraduate curriculum. 

The current requirements for the Economics B.A. have been in place since Fall 2024, when the Economics Department reorganized its longstanding Economics major into two separate majors: one offering somewhat more technical training (B.S.), the other offering somewhat more flexibility (B.A.). Prior to Fall 2024, the requirements for the Economics B.A. were extremely similar to those for the current Economics B.S.

Policies

To receive a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Economics:

  • Students must have a minimum 2.0 major GPA in order to graduate.
  • All major requirements, both lower division and upper division, must be taken for a letter grade and passed with a C- or better. 
  • All upper division major requirements must be at least 4 units. Classes lower than 4 units will not count toward your upper division major requirements. 
  • You must remain within the residency requirement for this major, which is: No more than four upper-division courses taken externally from UC San Diego can be counted toward the major. 

Note: F-1 students with an EN25 major are eligible to apply for STEM OPT and extend the employment authorization benefits. Current F-1 regulations allow for 12 months of OPT and an additional 24 months (total of 36 months) of OPT for those in STEM qualified fields. Visit the OPT webpage for details and updates.  EN25 falls under the category of Econometrics and Quantitative Economics.

Focus of the Major

  • Emphasizes tools of economics analysis and their applications to contemporary problems and government policies.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the Economics major, students will be able to:

  • Apply the formal methods used by statisticians to analyze data to learn about the real world
  • Use basic economic methods to quantify uncertainty with confidence intervals; use regression to infer causal relationships; and use regressions for prediction
  • Critically interpret empirical studies
  • Set up, solve, and analyze optimization models
  • Apply optimization models to consumer, producer, and market theories
  • Use game theory to analyze the strategic behavior of individuals and firms
  • Build macroeconomic models
  • Apply macroeconomic models to understand current issues

View the UC San Diego WASC Inventory of Effectiveness Indicators for the bachelor of arts in economics (pages 1-3).

Requirements

  • Major requirements checklist (PDF)

Four Year Plan

  • First Years (PDF)

Two Year Plan

  • Transfers (PDF)