Demand for workers with backgrounds in economics is growing! In particular, those with strong quantitative skills will have outstanding employment opportunities in business and government. We have designed a 12 month master’s degree program to allow you to obtain these valuable skills. This program begins each fall semester and includes training in methods that will make you competitive in this growing market. The program includes courses in economic modeling and forecasting as well as applied courses in energy and health economics; two very important markets in the Houston area!

For application information please see our Steps in the Admission Process page.

Admission

Admission to the program is competitive. To be considered for admission, each applicant must meet the following pre-requisites:

• have been awarded a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution
• have maintained at least a 3.0 GPA in the most recent 60 semester hours of undergraduate course work attempted and have completed the following pre-requisite courses (or equivalents): ECON 3332 Intermediate Microeconomics, ECON 3334 Intermediate Macroeconomics, ECON 4365 Introduction to Econometrics (a regression analysis course) and MATH 1431 Calculus I or MATH 1314 Calculus for Business and Social Science.
• have taken the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) with a preferred total score of 1000 (Verbal & Quantitative combined) for the old scoring system and 300 under the new scoring system. There is no formal minimum requirement to be considered for admission. However, successful applicants have typically scored at least 600 (old system) or 147 (new system) on the quantitative section of the exam.

All above pre-requisite courses in Economics will be offered in the spring semester, with some being offered in the first summer term each year. See the Math department schedule for calculus course availability.

Please note that this is a full time day only program during the fall and spring semester. We intend to schedule all fall and spring semester courses in the program for MWF to allow flexibility in your weekly personal and/or job schedule The program concludes with a 6 hour thesis or internship in the summer.

Course curriculum: 30 semester hours of credit

• Microeconomic Analysis – 4 hours
• Macroeconomic Analysis – 4 hours
• Econometrics – 4 hours
• Economic Forecasting – 3 hours
• Energy Economics – 3 hours
• Health Economics – 3 hours
• Quantitative Analysis (with applications in capital markets) - 3 hours
• Internship or Thesis – 6 hours (final summer)

Benefits of the program

• gain important job skills for use in many industry and government positions
• earn a complete master’s degree in one calendar year
• choose between our thesis or internship options

Student Placement

Students from our program have obtained full-time employment in various industries. Here are just a few examples of internships and full-time positions that our students have obtained recently

• Market Analyst at IHS Inc. (formerly ODS-Petrodata)
• Analyst at Sabbine Storage and Operations
• Project Coordinator at University of Houston
• Junior Economist Intern at BBVA Compass
• Strategic Planning Intern at Port of Houston Authority

More about the program

• Frequently asked questions about graduate programs in Economics