Our Graduate Program

The University of Montana’s Master of Arts in Economics prepares students to be successful at top-ranked PhD programs and in jobs as professional economists. We emphasize the application of economic theory and implementation of empirical methods, and offer particular strengths in development and environmental economics.

We are...

A Bridge to a PhD program in Economics

  • We provide the economic theory and mathematics training necessary to be successful in a PhD program

  • Recent placements include: the University of Oregon, Simon Fraser, UC Irvine, Washington State (Finance), and Northern Arizona University (Forestry).

Outstanding Preparation for Professional Economist Position

  • Applied and empirical focus prepares students for our current data-focused job market

  • Recent graduates have been hired by Montana Department of Labor, MT Dept. of Commerce, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, UM’s BBER

Focused on the Success of our Master’s Students

Our master’s students collaborate closely on research with our faculty and receive individual mentoring tailored to their career objectives

Program Overview

Course Work

Students focus on course work during their first year of study. All students complete advanced courses in microeconomic theory, macroeconometrics and forecasting, and microeconometrics. Nearly all of our students complete additional courses in mathematics and statistics.

Thesis

In the second year, students design and complete an empirically-oriented thesis. Completion of the thesis requires that a student integrate economic theory and empirical analysis and demonstrates the skills required to be a successful professional economist.

Tuition and Funding Opportunities

We offer teaching and research assistantships on a competitive basis that include tuition waivers and stipends. More details on funding can be found on the Graduate School Tuition and Funding web page.

Please email Graduate Advisor Katrina Mullan (katrina.mullan@umontana.edu) if you are applying to our program and would NOT like to be considered for a TA position.