Graduate Program

OVERVIEW

The Department of Economics at the University of Colorado in Boulder is recognized as one of the top 50 economics departments in the country. Graduate students will find that they are participating in a program that has an excellent placement record and trains them well for careers in teaching, research and government or private sector employment.
 
PHD PROGRAM

Our PhD program focuses on a solid core curriculum in economic theory and econometrics. Beyond this, we offer a number of specialized fields of study: international trade and finance, labor economics, human resources and demography, industrial organization and game theory, public economics, urban and regional economics, economic history, economic development, natural resources and environment, as well as microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics.

M.A. PROGRAM

We do not currently offer a stand-alone M.A. degree program, although students enrolled in our PhD program will earn their M.A. degree as they progress toward their doctorate. If you are interested in a masters-only program, you may want to contact the University of Colorado at Denver: http://www.econ.cudenver.edu/home/graduate_program.htm.

ADMISSIONS

Students are not expected to have a masters’ degree when they enter the program and may earn their M.A. degree in the course of completing their doctorate. With permission, a maximum of 12 credit hours of graduate level economics coursework may be transferred into our program. Our philosophy, however, is that you will derive the greatest benefit from our program by completing all of our core coursework.

In addition to holding a bachelors’ degree from a college or university of recognized standing, completing intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic theory courses, 6 college-level hours of calculus, as well as statistics coursework, here are our minimum requirements and averages for GPA, GRE and TOEFL:

We will look at GPAs for masters’ level work but do not use this average as a standard measure since most applicants have not completed graduate level work.

For international students, applications are due December 1st of the year preceding the year of admission. For domestic students, applications are due February 1st of the year of admission. Applications not completed by the due dates may not be considered for admission and will not be considered for funding.

APPLY

We strongly encourage you to apply online:
http://www.colorado.edu/prospective/graduate/apply/process.html.

A completed application consists of Parts I and II of the application, application fee, Statement of Purpose, transcripts for all higher-level education completed, officially transmitted (ETS to CU) verbal and quantitative GRE scores, officially transmitted (ETS to CU) TOEFL scores (for international students who have not attended an English-speaking university), and 3 letters of recommendation. All parts of your application should be submitted to your online application file except your transcripts, GRE and TOEFL scores.

Transcripts for domestic students should be sent to:

Patricia Holcomb
Department of Economics
University of Colorado at Boulder
256 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309-0256
Phone for overnight packages: 303.492.6396

Transcripts for international students should be sent to:

International Admissions
University of Colorado at Boulder
Regent Administrative Center, Room 125
65 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309
Phone for overnight packages: 303.735.2437

GRE scores should be transmitted directly from ETS to CU-Boulder. Our institution code is 4841. There is no need to submit a department code as all scores are sent to our admissions department for entry into a data system accessible by all departments.

Admissions decisions are made in February for all applications received by the appropriate deadlines. Applicants are notified about decisions as soon as possible after they are made.

For further information, please contact the Graduate Program Coordinator, Patricia Holcomb, at patricia.holcomb@colorado.edu.

FUNDING

When you apply to our program, you will automatically be considered for financial aid in the form of a teaching assistantship and/or fellowship as long as your application is received by our deadline. For international students, applications for Fall of 2009 are due no later than December 1, 2008. For domestic applicants, the deadline for Fall of 2009 is February 1, 2009.
 
Appointment as a Teaching Assistant (TA) your first year would include a stipend, tuition remission and assistance with health insurance. TAs assist an instructor with an undergraduate economics course. Duties include conducting recitation sections, consulting with students and assisting the course instructor with class preparation and grading. Continued support in the second semester depends upon satisfactory performance in coursework and assistantship duties in the first semester.

Students are provided an opportunity to apply for open positions each semester. If you perform well and carry a competitive grade point average, your chances of being appointed for a Fall or Spring semester position are good. Summer appointments are more competitive.
 
In addition to teaching assistantships and, in later years, instructorships, the department also awards several special fellowships each year. During your time here, the university and the graduate school will keep you informed about other possible funding sources.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS - PHD

Full-time students are expected to complete all requirements for the PhD degree within five years of entering the program (the maximum time allowed by the Graduate School is six years) and the schedule of required courses below is centered on this expectation. Failure to make timely and satisfactory progress toward the degree, as prescribed in a supplemental document on file in the office of the Graduate Program Coordinator, may result in loss of financial assistance or dismissal from the program.

Course Requirements
1.    Prior to beginning the program, students must demonstrate an acceptable degree of competence in differential and integral calculus and optimization techniques. (This requirement is in addition to the six hours of calculus required to apply to the program.) Such competence is normally demonstrated by taking Economics 7800 (an intensive, two-week preparatory course offered immediately prior to each fall semester) and passing its final examination with a grade of B- or better. Though this course is required, there is no credit and no tuition will be charged.

Other methods by which the required competence may be demonstrated are:
a.    A letter from the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) confirming that the student has had sufficient mathematical preparation in prior studies.
b.    Passing the final examination in Economics 7800 at a level of B- without taking the course.
c.    Passing a course which is substantially equivalent to Economics 7800 at another accredited graduate institution.

Students who fail the examination in Economics 7800 will be given a second opportunity to pass an equivalent examination two weeks later. Students who fail this examination on the second attempt must enter into extensive consultation with the DGS.

2.    There are seven core courses in the PhD program; Economics 7010, 7020, 7030, 7040, 7050, 7818, and 7828. Course requirements beyond the core courses include:
a.    Seven elective courses at the 8000 level. Basic fields of specialization are Econometrics, Economic Development, Economic History, Industrial Organization, International Trade and Finance, Labor and Human Resources, Natural Resources and Environmental Economics, Public Economics, and Urban and Regional Economics. Ordinarily, a student would take two elective courses in a basic field of specialization in preparation for a dissertation.
b.     6 credit hours in a research colloquium: Economics 8209 and 8219.
c.     At least 30 hours of dissertation credit: Economics 8999.

3.    At least four of the core courses must be taken on the Boulder campus. Courses transferred for credit must be approved by the DGS. After entry into the PhD program, all remaining courses must be taken on the Boulder campus.

4.    All courses for PhD credit taken on the Boulder campus must be passed with a grade of B- or better. A student who receives a grade of C+ or lower in a core course must retake that course in the following academic year.

5.    No more than 12 hours of credit (exclusive of dissertation credit) from a single faculty member may be counted toward PhD requirements. Independent study is allowed only to satisfy elective requirements. No more than 6 credit hours of independent study may be applied to the PhD degree and no more than 3 credit hours of independent study may be taken from a single faculty member. Students who wish to take independent study must apply to the Graduate Curriculum and Review Committee (GCRC) in order to do so. In consultation with the DGS, students may choose to take up to two graduate offerings in other departments as elective courses.

Years One and Two

Year Three
Coursework in the third year includes (a) Economics 8209 (Fall) and 8219 (Spring), which constitute the third-year research colloquium, (b) any remaining elective course(s), and (c) dissertation research.

Year Four
Coursework in the fourth year includes completion of required dissertation credit.

Preliminary Examinations
Written preliminary examinations in microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory and econometrics must be taken in August following the successful completion of core courses in your first year. An examination attempted and failed must be taken again and passed in the next examination period. A second failure will result in dismissal from the program, subject to appeal under extraordinary circumstances to the GCRC. In no case are attempts beyond the third granted.

Students who have failed any of the core courses are ineligible to take the preliminary examination in the area of failure. These students must retake the failed course(s) in the following year and attempt the relevant preliminary examination in the first scheduled examination period thereafter.

Students must pass all preliminary examinations within two-and-one-half (2½) years of beginning the PhD program.

M.A. Degree
Though no stand alone M.A. degree is offered, an M.A. degree will be awarded to students who have successfully completed all core courses in the PhD program, completed 30 hours of graduate credit, and performed satisfactorily on the PhD preliminary examinations.

Third-Year Research Colloquium
Each third-year student is required to register for 3 credit hours per semester in the research colloquium, which will meet weekly under the direction of a faculty member. The purpose of the colloquium is to provide students the opportunity and guidance to complete the required third-year paper and to facilitate progress toward the dissertation stage. Meetings in the Fall semester allow preliminary discussions of the research and lectures in research methodology, data sources, and the like. In the spring semester each student presents work in progress in the colloquium. In April or May of the third year each student must present a final version of the research paper in a departmental seminar series.

Under some circumstances, students may delay taking this colloquium until the fourth year with the approval of the DGS.

Comprehensive Examination
Students must take an oral comprehensive examination before admission to PhD candidacy. This examination may occur either at the time of the student’s research presentation in ECON 8219 or at a later date and will encompass the materials in the presentation and all relevant course work completed by the candidate. At least two faculty members from the student’s basic dissertation committee, as well as three additional faculty members, must certify the acceptability of the performance on the oral examination. Students who fail this comprehensive examination will be given a second chance during the following fall semester. For those students for whom the presentation in ECON 8219 does not serve as the oral comprehensive examination, a separate oral examination must be scheduled before admission to candidacy.

Admission to Candidacy and Dissertation Coursework
Students are formally admitted to Candidacy for the PhD degree after completing all course requirements and all preliminary and comprehensive examinations and earning four semesters of residency (see the University of Colorado Catalog for details). After admission to Candidacy, they must register each Fall and Spring semester for dissertation credit (ECON 8999) until attaining the degree. The accumulated credit for the thesis must total at least 30 semester hours.

Dissertation Proposal (Proposal Defense)
By January 1 of the academic year following the research colloquium, each student must submit a written dissertation proposal to his or her basic committee and the Graduate Program Coordinator. The dissertation proposal form must be signed by each member of the basic committee and submitted to the Graduate Program Coordinator. An acceptable proposal must include (a) a statement of purpose and a justification for the importance of the work; (b) a full literature review and a statement of how this research will contribute to the literature; and (c) a detailed description of the methodologies to be used and of the data bases, if appropriate. By April 1 of the same academic year students must present the proposal in an open seminar.

A successful proposal defense will result in a letter from the basic committee to the candidate indicating that successful completion of the planned research will constitute an acceptable dissertation. Students who fail to present a proposal in a timely fashion will be denied a passing grade on dissertation credit for which they are registered.

Dissertation Committee
Ordinarily, within three months of the dissertation proposal presentation, the DGS, in consultation with the dissertation supervisor, appoints remaining members of the full dissertation committee. A full dissertation committee consists of at least four faculty members from the economics department and one member from outside the department.

Dissertation
Normally students would be expected to complete their dissertations by the end of their fifth academic year. The Graduate Program Coordinator provides details on submission of the dissertation and arrangements for the oral defense. After the defense, minor changes are agreed upon between candidate and supervisor. If major changes arise, the candidate and supervisor will consult with the DGS on a future course of action.

PhD Final Exam (Defense)
A student must prepare a written dissertation and successfully pass an oral examination (final defense) before a dissertation committee and other interested persons on its content before receiving the degree.

Residence and Overall Credit Requirements
The minimum residence requirement for the PhD degree is six semesters of scholarly work beyond the bachelor’s degree, with satisfactory completion of 21 hours of core coursework, 21 hours of 8000-level electives, 6 hours of third-year research colloquium and 30 hours of dissertation, for total minimum credits of 78 hours.

YEARLY REVIEW

Each Spring the DGS and Department’s Graduate Curriculum Committee meets to review the progress of each student in the PhD program. The regulations herein will serve as a standard of minimal acceptable progress, but additional rules on this issue are specified in a document available from the Graduate Program Coordinator or the DGS.