Economics, MA

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An MA student must be in residence for at least two semesters, and all work must be completed within seven years of admission. A student following normal progress should be able to earn the MA degree within two years.

Requirements

A student must earn 30 credit hours in economics, including at least 21 hours of 600- or 700-level courses. Up to 9 credit hours of 400-level courses may apply to the 30 credit hour requirement. Graduate credit will not be granted for 300-level courses. A student must have a B average (3.0 GPA) for all courses completed at UH Mānoa applied toward the degree, and a B average for all 600-level and 700-level courses.

The MA program builds on rigorous economic theory and econometrics classes from the PhD program, making MA students exceptionally well trained.

As a capstone experience for the degree, the individual project allows students to apply the theory learned in classes towards a problem in which they have a particular interest. The project helps students to develop critical thinking skills and use a variety of economics tools and models. A student may also choose to write a master’s thesis in lieu of the individual research project. Students en-route to the PhD and who complete the PhD core may substitute a passing grade on either of the PhD qualifying exams for the individual research project requirement for a master’s degree.

A student who completes the MA degree may apply to the PhD program. By taking appropriate courses, a student should be able to earn both MA and PhD degrees within five years.

The MA requires completion of the following:

A four-course common core comprising
ECON 606 - Microeconomic Theory I Credits: 3
ECON 607 - Macroeconomic Theory I Credits: 3
ECON 627 - Mathematics for Economics Credits: 3
ECON 628 - Econometrics I Credits: 3 with a B average;
A two-course area of concentration
An individual research project, constituting the capstone experience for the degree

5-year BA-MA Program

The program will keep the same structure of the current BA and MA. However, it will require at least 141 combined credits (total), including nine (9) credits that may be double-counted across the two programs. The 9 credits that can be double-counted include six (6) credits coming from two 600-level courses taken as undergraduate (ECON 606 and ECON 627 ) and up to three (3) credits coming from either ECON 420 - Mathematical Economics or ECON 425 - Introduction to Econometrics I: Data Exploration and Regression Analysis .