Best Economics Research Doctorates for 2027

Harvard moves from first-year economic theory and quantitative economics into two fields of specialization, with additional coursework outside those fields. Options include contracts and organizations, behavioral economics, and political economy. In the third year, students take a research preparatory course and write a faculty-supervised paper. They also begin presenting in graduate workshops, where regular presentations continue as their research develops toward a dissertation.

Chicago’s first-year core is organized around price theory, the theory of income, and quantitative methods, followed by a three-part examination. The second year turns to specialized fields before students move into independent research. Economics workshops connect the department with the Booth School of Business, Harris School of Public Policy, and Law School. Research and teaching then occupy most of the later years, alongside development of the dissertation.

Berkeley’s residential economics PhD includes economic history methods alongside microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, and econometrics in its early preparation. Students subsequently develop two fields of specialization, prepare a dissertation prospectus, and take an oral examination before candidacy. The program separates this preparation stage from the original dissertation research that follows. It requires study in residence and does not offer a remote enrollment option for the doctoral degree.

Stanford offers doctoral fields ranging from market design and behavioral economics to environmental, resource, and energy economics. Students choose two fields after the core microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics sequences, then complete additional distribution courses outside their specializations. One quarter of teaching experience is required. Field-specific seminars and lunches accompany coursework, giving students regular settings in which to follow current research as they develop their own questions.

Columbia adds mathematical methods and a first-year Perspectives course to its theory and econometrics sequences. Perspectives examines economic approaches while introducing the practical design of empirical research. You'll then choose two concentrations and begin presenting your own work in a colloquium. From the third year onward, presentations are required each semester. A third-year paper and a dissertation proposal defended before faculty provide successive research milestones, with the proposal defense due before the end of the fourth year.

Northwestern combines yearlong sequences in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics with three field sequences. Economic history is required, with a choice between American and European history courses. Students also prepare and present two research papers in the graduate student seminar or an equivalent setting. An oral examination approves the dissertation prospectus before the independent dissertation and final defense, making early research presentations a formal part of the degree.

Wisconsin-Madison gives every economics doctoral student a year of econometrics, with further study in nonlinear estimation and inference available to specialists. Its public economics research covers taxation, social insurance, education, income distribution, and health. Preparation for entry is substantial: the department expects a three-course calculus sequence, linear algebra, and mathematical statistics. Those requirements make the program’s mathematical demands clear before students begin choosing their research fields.

Princeton admits only 20 to 25 economics doctoral students a year from roughly 800 applications, and there is no master's track to fall back on. The first year is six core courses and the second is six field courses, with directed research and a third-year paper after that. The Graduate School adds a year in residence, a general examination, the dissertation and a final public oral. All admitted students get tuition and fellowship support, including summer months, and post-generals students have office space in the Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building. Weekly seminars and student workshops run across fields such as behavioral, international, industrial organization, theory, macro, finance, econometrics and development.

Yale’s economics PhD includes an empirical paper requirement alongside specialized field study. In later years, students attend both a formal research workshop and an informal prospectus lunch or reading group, with presentations required during the third and fourth years. Field options include environmental economics, political economy, and economic history. The third year is devoted to finding a dissertation question and developing research with an advisory committee.

UC San Diego makes computation and empirical work explicit doctoral requirements: students complete a computation course and an empirical project within the econometrics sequence. They also write a second-year spring project and a third-year original paper. Advanced coursework develops two economics fields, while a graduate research workshop supports the transition into independent research. These projects precede the oral qualifying examination and the dissertation’s final defense.

Minnesota expects entering economics doctoral students to have multivariable calculus and linear algebra, and looks for exposure to economic theory beyond the intermediate undergraduate level. Its dissertation workshop system is a distinctive part of later training. Students present developing research in weekly faculty-led workshops held on campus or at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Workshop areas include growth and development, international finance, public economics, and economic theory.

Cornell organizes doctoral economics study around a major and at least two minor subjects, with a special committee helping direct your work. Basic analytical economics can serve as one minor after the mathematics and core qualifying requirements are met. Concentrations include health economics, economics of education, economic history and public finance. Research develops through a second-year paper and a third-year paper presented at a research conference. Workshops continue through the later years, alongside the committee's guidance of your dissertation.

Penn’s economics PhD combines a theory and econometrics core with an explicit empirical economics requirement. Students choose departmental workshops in areas such as monetary economics, empirical microeconomics, industrial organization, and economic theory. Two third-year seminars focus on doctoral research before the dissertation stage. The graduate group includes economists from Wharton as well as Arts and Sciences, connecting the program’s formal curriculum with faculty across those schools.

UC Davis offers economics doctoral fields including economic history, development, industrial organization, and international economics. Students build depth in two major fields and a third minor field after the first-year core. The research sequence includes a second-year paper or substantial literature review and a third-year research paper before the oral qualifying examination. Regular seminar participation and a research presentation help carry that work toward the dissertation.

UCLA’s economics PhD offers a choice between examinations in three elective fields and two fields combined with a breadth option. Fields include economic history, asset pricing, development economics, and population and public-sector economics. Some fields also require a research paper before doctoral candidacy. This structure allows students to build a wider course portfolio or pursue a third examined specialty after completing the common economic theory and econometrics preparation.

NYU's arts and science Economics PhD combines qualifying examinations in microeconomics and macroeconomics with two fields of specialization. Options include experimental economics, political economy and game theory. Your third year centers on an original paper, faculty advising and a yearlong research workshop. A formal dissertation proposal then becomes the basis of a preliminary oral examination. After faculty approve the completed dissertation, you'll present and defend the results at a public oral examination, giving the research several review stages before graduation.

Illinois allocates substantial doctoral coursework to field electives and research seminars alongside its microeconomics, macroeconomics, and statistics and econometrics core. Students complete two fields through coursework or examination and submit an original research paper before the third year begins. That paper must be approved during the third year. Qualifying examinations, a preliminary examination, and the final dissertation defense mark the progression from formal preparation into independent research.

MIT enrolls 20 to 24 full-time doctoral students a year, and most finish in five to six years. Core coursework in micro theory, macro and econometrics comes first, then two major and two minor fields and an advanced research methods course. The dissertation normally consists of three publishable papers, approved by two advisors and an anonymous third reader, with at least one paper free of a faculty coauthor. Funding is concrete: years one and two bring full tuition, health insurance and a nine-month stipend as fellowship, years three through six come with teaching or research assistantships, and paid summer research is offered. A business economics track runs through Sloan. Applications open September 15 and close December 15.

Maryland pairs a three-course major field with a two-course minor and an econometrics sequence. The major culminates in either a written examination or a field paper. In the third year, students begin directed research through workshops connected to their dissertation interests. Workshop groupings bring together subjects such as international trade, institutions, and political economy, or development, labor, and public economics, giving related specialties a shared research setting.

Brown includes applied economic analysis and mathematics in the first year of its economics PhD, alongside the three core theory and econometrics sequences. Students then choose two fields and take an oral field examination. The research milestones include a third-year poster presentation and paper, followed by seminar presentations in subsequent years. Three advanced courses beyond the field requirements give students room to broaden the tools they bring to their dissertation.