Best Economics Programs in Colorado for 2027

Colorado College teaches economics on its one-course-at-a-time Block Plan, and the department leans on that calendar for field trips: a day in Denver with telecom executives or sports front offices, or a week or two across the Southwest studying environmental economics. The major is rooted in the liberal arts and aims at public policy, with a required elective drawn from a list that includes economics of sports, inequality, industrial organization, money and banking, and international finance. Three sister majors, mathematical economics, international political economy and business, economics and society, sit in the same department.

Block Plan Learning

Field trips from single-day Denver visits to one- to two-week Southwest trips

Required Elective

One course from a list including sports, inequality, industrial organization and international finance

Related Majors

Mathematical economics, international political economy, business, economics and society

Program Sources: Courses | Economics & Business | Colorado CollegeEconomics | Economics & Business | Colorado College

Boulder asks for at least 32 credit hours of economics plus an approved calculus course that sits outside that total, and then lets you tilt the major in one of four directions: environmental and resources, international, public policy, or quantitative. The quantitative emphasis is written for students heading to graduate school in economics or into data analysis, actuarial work and applied statistics. Students with a 3.40 GPA in the three required 3000-level courses can apply for the honors thesis, a fall seminar followed by a spring thesis seminar. An actuarial studies and quantitative finance certificate is also offered.

Emphasis Options

Environmental and resources, international, public policy, quantitative

Honors Thesis

Fall and spring seminars for majors with a 3.40 GPA in the three required 3000-level courses

Math Requirement

Approved calculus course, counted outside the 32 economics credits

Program Sources: Undergraduate Program | Economics | CU BoulderHonors Thesis Program | Economics | CU Boulder

Colorado State studies economics inside the College of Liberal Arts, so history, culture and institutions sit alongside the models. The required sequence runs through intermediate micro and macro, econometrics, political economy and a senior capstone seminar, with electives in developmental and international economics, environmental economics, health economics, and race, class and gender. An accelerated option lets motivated students finish in three years by carrying 15 to 16 credits each semester plus summer courses, and prior AP, IB or transfer credit can shorten it further.

Required Sequence

Intermediate micro and macro, econometrics, political economy, senior capstone seminar

Accelerated Track

Three years at 15 to 16 credits per semester plus summer sessions

Elective Areas

Developmental, environmental, health, and race, class and gender economics

Program Sources: Major in Economics | Colorado State University Catalog

CU Denver’s economics MA uses a research seminar in place of a traditional thesis. Students conduct an independent empirical project with faculty guidance and develop it into a master’s paper. A separate applied economics seminar is organized into eight-week modules, with topics such as labor, public finance, and economic development. The core also includes mathematical economics and two econometrics courses, while electives can extend into forecasting, health economics, or data analysis with SAS.

Program Size

30 credit hours, with a grade of B- or better in every core course

Capstone

Research Seminar (ECON 6073), an independent empirical project that replaces the thesis

Applied Modules

Two 8-week Seminar in Applied Economics modules, such as labor, public finance, monetary economics or development

Combined Options

Five-year BA Economics and MS Health Economics (4+1), plus dual degrees with Applied Mathematics or Public Administration

Program Sources: Master of Arts in Economics Degree Requirements | CU DenverMaster of Arts in Economics Degree Requirements | CU Denver

Colorado State's doctorate is pluralist: faculty and students work across schools of economic thought rather than a single mainstream approach, with recognized strength in environmental, political and regional economics. Areas of study also include development, international and public economics. The curriculum is built to produce mastery of micro, macro, political economy and econometrics, then research and teaching experience. Recent graduates have taken tenure-track jobs at liberal arts colleges and universities as well as state government roles in Colorado, so it suits applicants who want policy or teaching careers. The GRE is required.

Areas of Study

Development, environmental, international, political, public and regional economics

Intellectual Approach

Pluralist faculty working across many schools of economic thought

Admission Test

GRE required

Program Sources: Economics (Ph.D.) | Colorado State University Graduate SchoolEconomics PhD | Colorado State University Catalog

Boulder checks your math before you start: a three-week, no-credit preparatory course in August (ECON 7800) must be passed at B-minus or better. First-year core work is tested by written preliminary exams in the first week of June covering micro theory, macro theory, and statistics and econometrics. The comprehensive exam comes ideally at the end of year three and the proposal defense at the end of year four. Specialty fields include economic history, industrial organization, labor, public economics, international trade and finance, and natural resources and environmental economics. Plan on five years and at least 75 credits.

Math Entry Course

Three-week ECON 7800 in August, passed at B-minus or better

Exam Sequence

June prelims after year one, comprehensive exam in year three, proposal defense in year four

Credit Total

At least 75 credits including dissertation hours

Program Sources: PhD Degree Requirements | Economics | CU Boulder

The doctorate in Denver's economics department is a health economics degree, and it is taught in person only; students cannot complete it remotely. Training begins with microeconomic theory and applied econometrics on large, varied data sets in statistical software, then moves to health care markets, insurance, physician and nursing labor, pharmaceuticals, and causal identification with health data. Graduate assistantships, partial tuition scholarships and grader jobs are awarded competitively, and every admitted student is considered automatically. Residents of WICHE states may qualify for in-state tuition through the Western Regional Graduate Program.

Specialty

Health care markets, insurance, health labor and pharmaceuticals

Format

In person only, no remote completion

Funding

Competitive assistantships and partial tuition scholarships, automatic consideration

Program Sources: Ph.D. in Health Economics | CU Denver College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Morgan Community College built its Associate of Arts in Economics as a Degree with Designation, meaning the courses are matched to the program you plan to enter at a four-year Colorado public university. That makes an early advising conversation essential, since the right courses depend on the destination. Topics include supply and demand, the government's role in the economy, reading economic data and how global markets affect a community like Fort Morgan. Classes are smaller and cheaper than at a university, and a business faculty member listed on the page is the contact for questions.

Degree Type

Degree with Designation matched to Colorado public university transfer plans

Topics

Supply and demand, government's economic role, economic data, global markets

Next Step

Advising early to align courses with the transfer destination

Program Sources: Economics | Morgan Community College

Front Range's economics associate degree is offered through its Boulder County, Larimer and Westminster campuses and online, each with its own named contact. It is designed so you can enter an economics major as a junior at nine Colorado institutions, including Colorado State, the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado Springs and Denver, Northern Colorado, Adams State, Fort Lewis, Metropolitan State and Western Colorado. The college emphasizes a transfer-friendly program with small classes, and it points to banking, finance, insurance and government work as careers that a bachelor's in economics opens.

Transfer Partners

Nine Colorado universities, entering the economics major as a junior

Where Offered

Boulder County, Larimer and Westminster campuses plus online

Career Paths

Banking, finance, insurance, government and market research

Program Sources: Economics | Front Range Community College

Arapahoe's Economics Transfer Major is a 60-credit Associate of Arts built on Colorado's statewide articulation agreement, which guarantees that the courses count toward a bachelor's in economics at public four-year colleges in the state. Beyond 31 credits of general education, you take Principles of Macroeconomics, Principles of Microeconomics and Calculus I, plus Introduction to Statistics inside the general education block. The remaining credits are electives drawn from approved subjects such as economics, history, sociology and political science, or from accounting, business statistics and computer science courses. It suits students who plan to finish the economics degree after the associate.

Transfer Guarantee

Statewide articulation agreement into bachelor's programs at Colorado public four-year colleges

Required Economics And Math

ECO 2001 Macroeconomics, ECO 2002 Microeconomics, MAT 2410 Calculus I and MAT 1260 Introduction to Statistics

Degree Size

60 credits including 31 credits of general education

Elective Menu

Approved prefixes such as ECO, HIS, SOC and POS, or courses in accounting, business statistics and computer science

Program Sources: Economics Transfer Major, AA | Arapahoe Community CollegeEconomics Transfer Major, AA | Arapahoe Community College