As an economics major at JMU, you’ll gain a solid foundation of economic theory and policy that can lead to a wide variety of career options, including financial analysis and trading, consumer advocacy, economic analysis, communications and public administration. Our curriculum will develop your skills in critical thinking, research, writing and analysis. Economics is a quantitative discipline, and so to succeed you’ll need to be comfortable working with mathematics.

At JMU, we offer three degrees with a major in economics. In each degree program, all of the core courses and elective choices are the same – you just pair your economics studies with other university requirements to make it a B.A, B.S. or B.B.A. The B.A. is useful for students with an interest in foreign languages or government service. The B.S. adds math and science requirements at the university level. The B.B.A. includes work in the major business disciplines to prepare you for a career in a small or large enterprise or nonprofit organization.

Students interested in the BBA degree in Economics at JMU are encouraged to complete the equivalents of these JMU courses:  COB 191/MATH 220, COB 202, COB 204, COB 241, COB 242, COB 291, ECON 200, ECON 201 and MATH 205/235.  Calculus (MATH 205 or 235) and statistics (COB 191 or MATH 220) are important prerequisites to COB 291.  COB 241 is a prerequisite to COB 242 at JMU.

• Create a schedule for all required courses, pay attention to prerequisites and when courses are offered, complete your first math and English courses in your first year
• Connect with an advisor at your community college and James Madison University within your first year via College Connect

Students may decide to focus their economics electives on one of several concentrations:

• Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
• Financial Economics
• International Economics
• Political Economy
• Quantitative Economics
• Socioeconomics

By completing the B.B.A. requirements you make it relatively easy to add another business major, such as finance or marketing, to your economics degree. Or, if you major in something else, the economics minor can strengthen your analytical abilities to complement the major. We have an internship and job placement program in coordination with the University Career Center at JMU. Qualified undergraduates can get experience as teaching assistants through the PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions) program.

JMU economics graduates do well in management, with College Factual ranking the JMU economics program in the Top 10% for Highest Paid Graduates in managerial economics nationwide. The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) gives students the opportunity to do supervised research one-on-one with a faculty member. We have an Executive Advisory Board that works actively to promote success of JMU economics graduates in business, finance and government.

Based on College of Business class of 2019 data, 97% of the sample population of College of Business graduates are employed, in graduate school, continuing education or are engaged in other career-related endeavors within 6 months of graduation.

• Completing your Associate transfer degree post-high school satisfies all lower division general education requirements and increases the chance of completing your bachelor's degree?
• Exceeding 3 years or 90 credits at your community college means you may have exhausted your financial aid at that college and have limited your future financial aid at: James Madison University