Economic Policy Analysis, M.A.

Course Requirements

A minimum of 36 credit hours of course work are required. These 36 credits include 15 credit hours of required core economics courses and six credit hours of required public policy courses. The remaining 15 credit hours are electives.

ECPA M.A. students may take any graduate-level class approved by the Graduate Program Director. These include classes in Public Policy, Data Sciences, Sociology, Education, Mathematics, Geography and Environmental Systems, and other disciplines. Students may also take graduate classes at another University of Maryland system campus.

Economics Core Courses (15 credit hours)

Public Policy Core Courses (6 credit hours)

Two courses (six credit hours). (For full course descriptions, see Course Descriptions course listings).

Elective Courses (15 credit hours)

Elective courses may include appropriate courses from Economics, Public Policy, Data Sciences, Geography and Environmental Systems, Sociology, Mathematics, Statistics, or other programs at UMBC. Students may take courses from UMB, College Park or other University of Maryland System campuses. A minimum of 2 elective courses must be economics classes, although students may request an exception to his rule from the ECPA Graduate Program Director.

The Economic Policy Analysis M.A. recommends that students choose electives to fit one of the following three concentrations:

Economic Policy: For students who would like to focus on the economic tools used in policy analysis. This is the broadest and most flexible concentration.
Public Policy: For students who would like a comprehensive study of the public policy process, including the techniques of evaluation of public policies and the political and sociological aspects of the public policy process. This concentration is strongly recommended for students who plan to continue on to the Public Policy Ph.D. at UMBC.
Economic Policy and Data Sciences: For students who are interested in learning more about computer programming languages and statistics programs that are relevant to Economic Policy Analysis. This concentration is offered in collaboration with the Masters of Professional Studies in Data Sciences at UMBC.

Grade Requirements

To complete the requirements of the M.A. in Economic Policy Analysis, students must have a “B” average overall and in the four core economics courses:

Note:

In addition, a student can have no more than one “C” in these four courses. Students may retake any course to attain the “B” average or to replace a “C” in one of the core courses.

Comprehensive Exam for the M.A. Degree

Students will write and present a major paper in ECON 699 , the capstone seminar. In this paper, students must analyze a policy issue from an economic perspective and use empirical analysis to shed light on important, underlying economic relationships and, when possible, suggest future directions for policy. This paper will allow students to pull together the skills and insights they have gained in the master’s program. Each student will have a faculty advisor in addition to the instructor in ECON 699 for this paper. If the ECON 699 instructor and the faculty advisor are the same, the student must have a second reader. To complete the M.A. degree, students must receive a “B” or better on this paper from both the faculty advisor and the instructor for ECON 699 .

Seminar Requirement

Master’s students will be required to attend at least four professional seminars on economics or policy issues during the last two semesters of the program. Evidence of this attendance will be part of their grade in the capstone course, ECON 699 .