The Department of Economics and Department of Finance at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business announce the college’s new accelerated Master of Arts in Economics program. The 10-month economics M.A. will begin enrolling in fall 2025 with all courses to be taught by tenured and tenure-track faculty.
The new “four-plus-one” program enables UT finance and economics (in both Haslam and the College of Arts and Sciences) majors to finish their master’s degree with only two additional semesters of coursework after completing their undergraduate degree. The curriculum is designed to prepare students for careers in economics and/or finance in the private and public sectors. The program also provides advanced work for students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in economics, finance or related fields.
“Economics and finance are often taught and thought of as separate disciplines, but they’re very much interrelated,” says program director Christian Vossler, Holly Chair of Excellence in the Department of Economics, noting that the two disciplines share the same foundational methods.
Competitive Coursework for a Competitive Job Market
The 30-hour program requires students to complete 15 hours in core subjects — including rigorous coursework in economic theory, econometrics and data analytics — and 15 hours in one of two concentrations: applied economic analysis or financial economics.
The program curriculum will help Haslam M.A. in economics graduates stand out in today’s competitive job market, where starting salaries average about $20K higher for candidates with a master’s degree versus a bachelor’s in economics or finance. “Students can closely align their interest with their career path by having this master’s degree under their belt,” Vossler says. “It’s going to help them pick the career they want.”
Scott Gilpatric, professor and head of the Department of Economics, says, “What really excites me about this program is that it gives students an opportunity, with just one additional year of coursework, to take what they’ve done as undergraduates and add a lot of depth with the tools of serious professional economics. All of those skills really make someone much more valuable on the job market with a much more sophisticated tool kit, as well as preparing students who choose to go on to further coursework in a Ph.D. program.”
For those interested in pursuing a doctorate in finance or economics, Vossler calls the accelerated M.A. in economics “the intermediate steppingstone that most students need, given the difference in quantitative rigor of an undergraduate program versus a Ph.D. program.”
Preparing for the Program
The program’s four-plus-one format allows seniors majoring in economics or finance to take up to nine credits that count toward both their bachelor’s degree and the economics M.A. To take advantage of this opportunity, students should plan ahead, Vossler says. “The most important thing students can do is take intermediate micro theory, intermediate macro theory and econometrics in their junior year, preferably the fall semester. Then, during their junior year or shortly thereafter, they should apply to this four-plus-one program.”
Once admitted, students can benefit from dual enrollment during their senior year. Even if they haven’t planned that far in advance, students can still take essential preparatory classes during their senior year — if their schedule allows — to complete the M.A. in Economics within 12 months.
Because the master’s coursework is mathematically advanced and technical, Vossler and Gilpatric also recommend that undergraduate students take a calculus sequence and/or the mathematical economics course. To minimize the time needed to complete their undergraduate degree, finance majors should take on a collateral in economics. Economics students with interests in the financial economics concentration will need to fit foundational finance coursework into their schedule. For Haslam economics majors, the quickest pathway is through the finance collateral degree option.
David Masler, assistant professor in the Department of Finance, says, “Advising is a really important part of that process. The earlier you reach out and express interest in the program, the more we can help you select the courses that would feed directly into the program during your junior and senior years.”
Visit the program webpage for more information about the M.A. in Economics degree and its admissions process.
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CONTACT:
Stacy Estep, writer/publicist, sestep3@utk.edu
