Progressive Master's Degree in Economics

The Economics department offers students who have demonstrated exceptional academic success the opportunity to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s in a progressive degree program. This program allows students to earn both a Bachelor of Arts and the Master of Arts degrees in a little over five years. Students may also pursue a Bachelor of Science in Economics/Mathematics and the Master of Science in Mathematical Finance offered by the Mathematics department.

The Economics Progressive Degree requirements are as follows:

1. Minimum 3.5 Cumulative GPA at time of application (Department Policy)

2. Submit application as a Junior (this means you have completed at least 64 total units of      

    undergraduate course work, but have not exceeded 96 total units, excluding AP, IB, or transfer units  

    earned prior to graduation from high school).

3. Complete and submit Application for Admission to a Progressive Master’s Program, including:

• Application form
• STARS report
• Two letters of recommendation from USC faculty (one from tenured faculty)
• Proposed Course Plan – the course plan must include all remaining undergraduate course requirements and graduate program requirements
• You are not required to submit GRE or GMAT scores!

4. Obtain approval signatures for the application and proposed course plan from:

• Undergraduate program chair (This is not the chair of the department. This is ths chair of the program)
• Graduate program chair
• Undergraduate Dean's signature

Sample Program Schedule

*Comprehensive Exam is given in May. It only tests you on Micro and Macro. If you do not pass it a first time, you are allowed to take it a second time in August.

A maximum of 8 units may be taken outside the Economics Department and applied to the master’s degree