2019-2020 Undergraduate Bulletin

Economics, Bachelor of Science

Economics is the study of how people and societies make choices to accomplish individual and social purposes. In this major, students learn about individual, national and global economic behavior, and then apply various theoretical insights and methods of analysis to the contemporary challenges involving social and economic justice, discrimination, immigration, markets, and crime, among other topics.

Learning outcomes.  Students will:

  • Identify and describe economic issues including justice, the law, crime, the causes and effects of fraud, sustainability, and administration.
  • Analyze economic information by separating it into its constituent parts, carefully examining them so as to identify causes, relationships and possible results.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of alternative theoretical perspectives.
  • Propose ethical and logically consistent remedies/policies for economic problems.
  • Communicate effectively to a variety of audiences by means of oral presentations, written documents and quantitative graphs, charts and tables.

Credits required.

Economics Major (or more depending on math placement)
36
General Education 42
Electives 42
Total Credits Required for B.S. Degree 120

Prerequisites. ECO 101 or ECO 120 or ECO 125 are prerequisites for required courses in the Economics major. ECO 105  is also a prerequisite for higher-level required ECO courses. Depending on math placement, students may need to take MAT 105 and/or MAT 108 (or MAT 141) as prerequisites for the required statistics course, ECO 255. ECO 101 can fulfill the Flexible Core: Individual and Society and ECO 105 can fulfill the Flexible Core: U.S. Experience in its Diversity areas of the General Education program.

Note: Students considering graduate programs in economics should consider additional mathematics and statistics courses as free electives. Students are strongly advised to discuss graduate school options early in their progression through the major.

Economics Major CUNY Gateway Courses. ECO 120 Introduction to Macroeconomics, ECO 125 Introduction to Microeconomics, ECO 255 Statistics for Economists.

Coordinator. Professor Sara Bernardo, Department of Economics (sbernardo@jjay.cuny.edu). 

Advising information. Economics Major Advising Resources including a Sample Four-year Advising Plan. Major Checklist

Honors Option. Honors in the BS in Economics is bestowed upon students who graduate with an overall GPA of 3.2 or higher, a GPA of 3.5 or higher for courses taken in fulfillment of the major, complete at least one additional Economics elective course at the 300-level, and complete a written capstone project in ECO 405 Seminar in Economics.  

Dual Admission / Accelerated Program Leading to the MA in Economics. This program allows student an accelerated approach to earning their BS and MA in Economics at John Jay.  Students complete 134 credits to earn both degrees. Contact the department for more details about the requirements and application process.

Additional information. Students who enrolled for the first time at the College or changed to this major in September 2016 or thereafter must complete the major in the form presented here. Students who enrolled prior to that date may choose the form shown here or the earlier version of the major. A copy of the earlier version may be obtained in the 2015-2016 Undergraduate Bulletin.

Part One. Economic Foundations

Required
ECO 105Understanding U.S. Economic Data

3

ECO 213Political Economy

3

ECO 220Intermediate Macroeconomics

3

ECO 225Intermediate Microeconomics

3

ECO 255Statistics for Economists

3

ECO 310Economics in Historical Perspectives

3

ECO 405Seminar in Economics

3

Total Credit Hours: 21

Part Two. Electives

Select five courses, at least one from each cluster with no single course satisfying more than one cluster. 

Please note: Students may only use one 100-level course towards Part II. Electives.

Elective Clusters

Criminal Justice Cluster

Select at least one course

ECO 231Global Economic Development and Crime

3

ECO 235Finance for Forensic Economics

3

ECO 260Environmental Economics, Regulation and Policy

3

ECO 283Selected Topics in Economics

3

ECO 315/PSC 315An Economic Analysis of Crime

3

ECO 360/SOC 360Corporate and White-Collar Crime

3

Public Sector Cluster

Select at least one course

ECO 125Introduction to Microeconomics

3

ECO 260Environmental Economics, Regulation and Policy

3

ECO 265Introduction to Public Sector Economics

3

ECO 270Urban Economics

3

ECO 280Economics of Labor

3

ECO 283Selected Topics in Economics

3

ECO 324Money and Banking

3

ECO 330Econometrics

3

ECO 360/SOC 360Corporate and White-Collar Crime

3

Economic Justice Cluster

Select at least one course

AFR 250Political Economy of Racism

3

AFR 322Inequality and Wealth

3

ECO 280Economics of Labor

3

ECO 283Selected Topics in Economics

3

ECO 327The Political Economy of Gender

3

ECO 333Sustainability: Preserving the Earth as Human Habitat

3

International Cluster

Select at least one course

AFR 250Political Economy of Racism

3

ECO 120Introduction to Macroeconomics

3

ECO 231Global Economic Development and Crime

3

ECO 245International Economics

3

ECO 283Selected Topics in Economics

3

ECO 327The Political Economy of Gender

3

ECO 333Sustainability: Preserving the Earth as Human Habitat

3

Total Credit Hours: 15

Total Credit Hours: 36