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Department of Economics

Committed to students’ intellectual development, faculty research accomplishments, and making important contributions to local, regional, and national issues, and policy analysis.

Welcome to the Department of Economics

value flag- respect, responsibility, relevance

We are a growing and vibrant department with 300+ undergraduate majors and 80+ minors. In order to provide the highest quality education, our faculty actively participate in scholarship.  Scholarship activities of our faculty include environmental and natural resource economics, urban and regional development, energy economics, economic history and economic policy. Given the breadth of expertise of our faculty, we are able to offer a wide range of courses. Our faculty is committed to fostering a strong sense of community, and students enjoy extensive interaction with faculty members.

Explore our site and learn about the exceptional educational opportunities in the Department of Economics. We will happily answer any questions you may about economics programs.

“Econometrics & Quantitative Economics is the second fastest-growing undergraduate degree program and in the top ten graduate programs nationally.”

As reported by Hanover Research.

Why Economics?

Chris Caldwell presents research

Have you ever thought about whether free trade between the US and China benefits Americans? Opportunities for new markets in developing countries? Why we have pollution and what cost does it create for our society? Economists think about these and many other questions that affect our lives every day. Economists use logic, reasoning and quantitative methods to help answer some of these questions. A degree in economics opens up many employment possibilities within government, the private sector and non-profit industries.

What Can I Do with an Economics Degree ?

Economists study how people and societies decide what goods and services to produce, how to allocate resources for production, and how to divide the income created in the process. Economics courses deal with national economic health and the behavior of industries and individual firms, as well as the decisions made by individuals in households and families.

Economics majors who plan to enter the job market immediately after college find the degree useful in obtaining jobs many fields of business and other areas where training in systematic thinking and empirical analysis are prized. A degree in economics is excellent preparation for law school, MBA programs, teaching or graduate work in economics or other social sciences.

Boise State offers three main paths to an undergraduate degree in economics: 1) a Bachelor of Arts, which includes economics and elective courses in social sciences; 2) a Bachelor of Arts in Quantitative Economics, which include economics and elective courses in math; 3) a Bachelor of Business Administration, which includes economics and standard business courses.

Gain Versatile Skills with a Major in Economics

Economics majors gain versatile skills such as analytical and critical problem solving, observation and inference from data, and written and oral communication. Having these skills opens up employment possibilities in many industries such as banking, energy, government, consulting, healthcare, education and agriculture. The American Economic Association has a few pointers on careers too!

Explore economics degrees

Career Paths for Economics Graduates

  • Energy industry
  • Human Relations
  • Healthcare
  • Federal, state and local government (public policy)
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Law International trade
  • Marketing and retail
  • Real estate development; urban and regional planning
  • College and high school teaching
  • Economic consulting
  • Agriculture
  • Financial planning
  • Data processing and data analyst
  • Business ownership
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Graduate school in economics or other fields

What Economics Alumni Are Doing Now

Cassie, David Paloma and Holly for amazing alums of Boise State University

Cassie earned an MBA at Oxford and works for Apple in London, David is a Schwarzman Scholar, Paloma is an analyst at JP Morgan in NYC, Holly did research in Ukraine and — our graduates are out in the world doing great things and they say good things about the economics programs at Boise State!

Contact us:

Email:  econdept@boisestate.edu

Phone:  208-426-3351

Hours:  M-F, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

What’s up in Economics

Department News

Faculty and Staff Directory

Faculty and Staff Directory