Program Overview

Program Overview

The University of Utah's Department of Economics offers a Ph.D. program designed to provide students with a comprehensive education in economic theory, methodology, and research. The program is structured to facilitate the transition from coursework to original research, with a focus on inequality, globalization, and sustainability.

Program Requirements

The Ph.D. program consists of several parts, including:

Part I: Core Program

• The core program consists of 8 courses (24 credits) in Microeconomic Theory, Macroeconomic Theory, Political Economy, and Econometrics.
• 7 of these courses should be completed during the first year, with the 8th course (ECON 7800) being completed during the second year, or optionally during the first year.
• All Ph.D. students are expected to be full-time during their first year, registering for 9 to 12 credit hours per semester.

Part II: Methodology Seminar

• Each student must take a course in either Economic History (ECON 7400) or History of Economic Doctrines (ECON 7600 or 7601).
• This requirement is completed in the student's second or third year.

Part III: Elective Coursework

• After completing the core, students take elective coursework suited to their particular research interests.
• The department regularly offers elective coursework in:
  • Development Economics
  • International Economics
  • Labor/Gender Economics
  • Econometrics
  • Environment & Natural Resource Economics
  • Economic Doctrines
  • Advanced Monetary Theory
  • Health Economics
  • Economic History
  • Industrial Organization
  • Behavioral Economics
• By arrangement with the Graduate Program Director, students may also take graduate-level courses in other departments that suit their research interests.

Part IV: Research Workshops

• To facilitate the transition from coursework to original research, all second- and third-year students are required to participate in the research workshops organized by the faculty.
• These workshops will vary in detail but typically reflect the department’s emphases in inequality, globalization, and sustainability.
• Students and faculty participating in each workshop discuss their developing research, host visiting researchers, and explore emerging topics in their fields.
• As part of their active participation in these workshops, students are required to submit a research idea to their research workshop by the end of the Spring semester of their second year.
• Students must have an extended research abstract approved through their research workshop by the end of their third year.

Part V: Dissertation Research

• Dissertation research begins during the third year and ends with a final defense.
• Throughout the dissertation stage, student research is supervised by a committee of faculty who are expert in the student's area of study.
• Dissertation students enroll for Dissertation Research, ECON 7970; at least fourteen credit hours are required.

Satisfactory Progress

The following timeline summarizes the department's description of satisfactory progress in the Ph.D. program:

1. Students are expected to pass the core qualifier exams in micro, macro, and political by the end of Spring Semester of their first year.
2. Students are expected to satisfy elective and methodology course requirements by the end of their third year.
3. Students must have a research proposal approved through their research workshop by the end of their third year.
4. Students are required to have a dissertation advisor at latest by the beginning of their fourth year.
5. Students are expected to defend their dissertation proposal by the end of the Spring semester of their fourth year.
6. Students are expected to have the final defense of dissertation by the end of their fifth year.