Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics

The Economics program at Fairfield University prepares students for careers in the private and public sectors, at both the domestic and international levels, as economists, analysts, and upper-level managers. Led by a devoted faculty, students challenge economic theories while using advanced technology in the classroom. Students blend modern economic concepts with current issues, developing their reasoning and critical thinking ability. Our curriculum provides students with traditional business skills such as data analysis, statistics and numerical research along with a rich liberal arts education to help them judge the merits of world markets and events. The curriculum of the Department of Economics blends basic economic concepts and their applications with contemporary issues. Courses develop reasoning capacity and analytical ability in students. By focusing on areas of application, students use economic principles to stimulate their powers of interpretation, synthesis, and understanding. The department's individualized counseling encourages majors to tailor their study to career and personal enrichment goals. A major in economics provides an excellent background for employment in the business world while maintaining the objectives of a liberal education. The economics degree pairs nicely with a wide variety of double majors and minors, including finance, math, international studies, area studies, and other social sciences. In fact, many economic elective courses ?double count? towards other major, minor, and core requirements. Economics majors regularly use a variety of up-to-date analytical tools, including Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, and are introduced to Stata, a sophisticated statistical package. The economics major also prepares students for advanced study in graduate or professional schools. Goal I: Students will understand the tradeoffs between efficiency and equity that are made as resources are allocated among economic actors Learning Objectives: Students will be able to Appraise various market models Use welfare measures to analyze economic tradeoffs Goal II: Students will describe economic concepts and apply them to real world issues. Learning Objectives: Students will be able to Use theory to explain economic events Evaluate the success or failure of policies used to achieve intended economic outcomes Goal III: Students will acquire quantitative skills to analyze data and use that data and analysis to support logical positions Learning Objectives: Students will be able to Acquire data-gathering skills in order to analyze an existing economic argument or present an economic argument of their own Experience using statistical software packages to analyze economic data, Formulate empirically testable hypotheses Goal IV: Students will use qualitative and quantitative models to interpret the impact of public policy choices Learning Objectives: Students will be able to Identify how economic policies can be utilized to overcome market inadequacies Construct economic arguments using both quantitative and non-quantitative forms of evidence Bachelor of Science Degree With its emphasis on mathematical skills and statistical analysis, this degree prepares students for quantitative applications of economic theory as practiced in actuarial work, economic research, or graduate studies in economics.