Why Economics?
Economics is the study of society's allocation and distribution of resources. The essential insights of economics are that these resources are scarce and have a price, that prices provide the link between individual agents (consumers and firms), and that individual behavior can vary across different incentive schemes. The study of economics provides a valuable way of analyzing many of the major issues facing society today.
The skills of an economist are also useful in many jobs. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers Salary Survey, the average starting salary for Economics/Finance is $45,112 (Summer 2006).
Why UC Davis?
U.C.-Davis is ideally located in northern California. The city of Davis, with 64,000 residents, doubles as a classic college town and a desirable "suburb" of the state capital Sacramento which is twelve miles away. Most students live on campus in Davis, within three miles of the campus in a city that provides an extensive bus system and a renowned system of bike paths and bike lanes. The Sierra Nevada mountains, California coast and city of San Francisco are all within two hours drive.
The university campus itself is old by California standards, starting in 1909, and has grown to 29,637 students. The campus is historically known for its tradition in agriculture and biological sciences and for supporting interdisciplinary research. More recently it has enjoyed success in many fields and supports professional schools in Law, Management, Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, in addition to Colleges of Letters and Science, Agriculture and Environment, and Engineering.
The university usually ranks number 14th amongst public universities in the U.S., according to the widely-cited rankings in U.S. News and World Report. U.C.-Davis enjoys all the advantages of being part of the University of California, including prestige, access to journals on-line via the California Digital Library and the Education Abroad Program for undergraduate study in foreign countries.
Why Economics at UC Davis?
The economics degree at U.C.-Davis is very flexible. Preparatory subjects for the Economics major are courses in introductory economics, calculus and statistics. The upper division course work consists of intermediate microeconomics and macroeconomics courses, one economics history course followed by four advanced and three elective economics courses that can be selected from a wide range of subject areas. The upper division course work for the minor in Economics requires intermediate microeconomics and macroeconomics courses, two advanced and one elective economics courses. The topics cover traditional areas of economics as well as newer fields such as the Economics of East Asia and Health Economics. For further details see the Economics Undergraduate Handbook.
Permanent faculty of the Department of Economics teach over ninety percent of the department's undergraduate classes, and visiting instructors with a Ph.D. teach the remaining courses. Graduate students act as teaching assistants who lead discussion sections. The department sponsors its own annual Thomas Mayer Distinguished Teaching Award. The university also sponsors teaching awards, and Professor Peter Lindert received the leading award, the 1998-99 UC Davis Foundation prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly achievements.
Details on individual courses are available at faculty web pages or at http://registrar.ucdavis.edu/UCDWebCatalog/CatIndex.html.
