Trying to dig a little deeper into Colorado State’s majors, just starting out in your major search, or want to see what it looks like to be a student in a certain major? Our “3 reasons” series is the perfect place to start. In each installment, we’re bringing you three standout reasons to choose a major, written by the people who work and teach in those majors every day.
Economics, finance, accounting … what’s the difference? We get this question a lot. At CSU, Economics is housed in the College of Liberal Arts. As a social science, we take a rigorous, intellectual approach to understanding – and solving – the most-urgent economic challenges of our time. Here are three reasons you might want to take a closer look at the Economics major at Colorado State.
#1. You’ll study much more than money or finance in economics.
As an Economics major, you’ll learn about money, but you’ll spend more time analyzing how humans make decisions, respond to incentives, and provide for themselves, their families, and communities in the face of limited resources. You’ll explore the bigger picture of how wealth, poverty, and inequality are generated, the economics of climate change, how nations are connected in global markets, the role of governments in managing markets, how gender, race, and ethnicity influence economic opportunities, and more.
#2. You’ll have a wide range of class choices and subject areas to expand in.
With a broad variety of Economics courses to choose from, plus room for a minor or double major, you can tailor your education to your unique interests. Every economics major learns math (we call it “econometrics”), but if you really like numbers, you can minor in math or statistics. Majors also take at least one course in politics, but you can go deeper into questions of race, class, gender, and public policy. Additionally, our faculty teach courses and offer paid undergraduate research opportunities around labor economics, regional economics, environmental economics, international economics, and development.
#3. You can take your degree into almost any career field.
A CSU degree in economics tells employers that you are a critical thinker who can work with data and communicate effectively. While you’re a student, you can get a head start with an internship to prepare for careers in areas like finance, government, nonprofit, international organizations, law, public policy, and even economics grad school. Salaries of economics majors tend to be higher than business and most other liberal arts majors.
The CSU economics community is a vibrant group of learners and teachers committed to your intellectual growth. It’s a challenging program, but throughout your degree you’ll have a dedicated advisor and the support of your instructors to master the concepts you need to succeed.
