Business Economics

The major prepares students for employment in business, finance, government and the not-for-profit sector.

Students must complete a minimum of 75 credits, distributed as follows: 7 foundations of Business and Economics courses (BA 101Z, EC 201Z, EC 202Z, BA 211Z, BA 213Z, EC 311, and EC 312), 6 quantitative methods and economic analysis courses, 3 upper-division Economics elective courses (12 credits) and 3 upper-division Business elective courses (12 credits).

A. Foundations of Business and Economics (7 courses, 28 credits)

  • BA 101Z: Introduction to Business (4 credits)
  • EC 201Z: Principles of Microeconomics (4 credits)
  • EC 202:Z Principles of Macroeconomics (4 credits)
  • BA 211Z: Principles of Financial Accounting (4 credits)
  • BA 213Z: Principles of Managerial Accounting  (4 credits)
  • EC 311: Intermediate Microeconomics  (4 credits)
  • EC 312: Intermediate Macroeconomic (4 credits)

B. Economic Analysis and Methods (6 courses, 23-24 credits)

  • EC 314U: Private and Public Investment Analysis (4 credits)
  • EC 469: Applied Econometrics (4 credits)
  • EC 380: Introduction to Mathematical Economics (4 credits) OR MATH 251Z: Differential Calculus I (4 credits)
  • STAT 243Z: Elementary Statistics I OR STAT 451: Applied Statistics for Engineers and Scientists I (4 credits)
  • STAT 244: Introduction to Probability and Statistics II (4 credits) OR STAT 452: Applied Statistics for Engineers and Scientists II (3 credits)
  • EC 420: Money and Banking OR EC 440: International Trade Theory and Practice OR EC 441: International Monetary Theory and Policy (4 credits)

C. Electives (24 credits)

Complete 3 courses (12 credits) of 300- or 400-level coursework in Economics and 3 courses (12 credits) of 300- or 400-level coursework in Business. Courses that satisfy the Business electives are those with the prefix BA, BTA, FIN, GSCM, ISQA, MGMT, MKTG, and RE. EC 403 (Honors Thesis) cannot be used to satisfy the elective requirements

D. Other requirements

Students must satisfy a major residency requirement of a combined total across Business and Economics of 24 credits in courses numbered 300 and above from PSU; and maintain a 2.5 grade point average in the major. All courses used to satisfy major requirements must be taken for a letter grade and must be graded C- or better.

Business Economics Sample Schedule

(Major courses only. See website for degree planners for BA in Business Economics and BS in Business Economics)