Best Economics Master’s Programs for 2027

Wisconsin’s quantitative economics MS is a coursework-based degree with no master’s thesis. Its core combines microeconomics and econometrics with causal estimation, machine learning, and a course on advances in artificial intelligence for economists. Students add three electives from an approved set that includes labor markets, international trade, and financial economics. The program is designed for full-time study, with most students completing four semesters and an approved three-semester path also possible.

UT Austin’s economics MA starts with summer mathematics and probability courses before the main theory and econometrics sequence. Electives include game theory, labor economics, causal inference, and machine learning. Teaching uses Stata, Python, and R, although prior programming experience is not required. The degree does not offer a thesis; research papers and projects instead appear within individual electives. A 10-month track is available alongside longer schedules for students who want more time.

UCLA's Master of Quantitative Economics is a 48-unit program that you can finish in 9 to 18 months, which suits both full-time students and people who want to stretch the schedule. After the foundation and subject-area courses, you design your own schedule or follow a concentration in data analytics, finance, or international and monetary economics. Courses are hands-on with R, Python, SQL, Excel and financial platforms, and the menu includes machine learning and big data for economists, asset pricing and portfolio theory in practice, and cloud computing and blockchain applications. A professional development sequence runs alongside the technical work.

Texas A&M’s economics MS offers thesis and non-thesis routes, with concentrations in financial econometrics or financial economics. Electives include behavioral financial economics, energy markets and policy, and economic analysis of financial data. Students can also choose approved supporting courses in subjects such as statistics, finance, mathematics, or public policy. The curriculum allows a professional internship course, while the thesis route gives students a different way to develop a sustained research project.

Purdue's online Economics MS is 30 credit hours: nine foundational credits (microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, math and statistics for economists), 15 to 21 credits of economics electives and six credits of business electives. Electives range from applied game theory, behavioral economics and economic forecasting to financial econometrics, statistical and machine learning, and Quantitative Economics with Python. You can specialize by earning one of three online graduate certificates: financial economics, business and economics data analytics, or public economics and policy. Purdue STEM undergraduates can count up to nine credit hours toward both a bachelor's and this master's.

Ohio’s economics MA follows a fall-to-summer sequence that culminates in faculty-supervised research. Students take mathematical economics, theory, and econometrics before advancing to applied econometrics and a field elective such as environmental, health, or behavioral economics. The final requirement can be a research paper or a thesis. For the paper, students submit their data and programming code along with the written work, making the empirical analysis part of the finished product.

Florida State's Applied Economics MS follows a full-time campus cohort from fall through summer. Applied microeconomics, econometrics and economic data analysis lead into a summer Applied Master's Project. You'll practice technical writing and formal presentations, with professionals evaluating the final project presentations at a July symposium. The published plan includes programming and machine learning electives, plus a spring choice between an applied economics internship and applied health economics. This is a structured annual sequence, so plan to study through the summer.

Houston’s applied economics MA is organized as a full-time, 12-month cohort beginning each fall. Coursework fills the fall and spring, followed by a six-credit summer component; students with a relevant internship or job can apply to use internship credit for that final portion. Classes meet during the day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the regular semesters. Applicants need prior economics and econometrics coursework, so this is a structured continuation of quantitative undergraduate preparation.

Buffalo’s economics MA devotes half its coursework to a prescribed core, including two microeconomic theory courses and two econometrics courses. Students take comprehensive examinations in microeconomics and macroeconomics. The other half consists of electives, with approved options for outside-department courses and independent study. Subject choices include health, finance, law, and urban economics. Students can also investigate the department’s advanced certificate or joint law-degree pathway if they want an additional area of specialization.

Texas Tech’s current economics MS begins with four core courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, and mathematical economics. Students then take six field or elective courses, with choices including energy economics, forecasting, game theory, and international finance. Qualifying examinations at the end of the second semester emphasize microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. Electives normally rotate over two years and depend on enrollment, so applicants with a particular research interest should check the upcoming course schedule.

Utah State’s economics MS opens with a two-week mathematical economics course before the fall semester. The required sequence includes mathematical methods for economics and finance and two econometrics courses, alongside microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. Students also complete a Plan B research paper, typically built around a systematic literature review, and defend it before a committee. Three electives allow some customization within a program that still has a clearly prescribed analytical core.

George Mason's MA is a STEM-designated degree in what the department calls the Mason style of economics, which blends public choice, Austrian economics and experimental economics with attention to the links among economic, political and legal institutions. Classes on campus in Northern Virginia are generally in the evening, and a fully online option with asynchronous courses has drawn more than 170 students since it launched. It is a self-contained master's for people not planning on Mason's PhD, which should apply to the doctoral program directly. Competitive fellowships are available to incoming on-campus students.

UNC Charlotte's Economics MS is 30 credit hours taught in the evening at the Dubois Center in uptown Charlotte, so working professionals can attend and full-time students can finish in 18 months. The core covers advanced macro and micro theory, graduate econometrics and advanced business and economic forecasting, followed by six credits of either a research project or a master's thesis. Five concentrations let you aim the degree: quantitative methods, quantitative financial economics, urban economics and real estate, financial management, or applied economic analysis. Dual-degree pathways with the University of Regensburg and the MS in Financial Engineering and Fintech are also offered.

Georgia State's Economics MA is a 33 to 36 credit hour degree that full-time students can finish in as little as two years. You choose between an Analytics Track, which goes deeper into technical and data-driven training, and a General Economics Track, which favors applied breadth across fields such as public finance, labor, health and urban economics. Coursework is built around applied econometrics and coding on real data, and the program carries a STEM designation. The department says many graduates continue to doctoral programs. Students can take every course online or mix in-person classes at the Atlanta campus, and admission opens for both fall and spring.

North Dakota’s applied economics and predictive analytics MS pairs a four-course economics core with a separate analytics sequence. Required analytics courses cover time series, forecasting, and methods for impact evaluation and causal inference. Students finish an independent study that applies those methods to a substantive problem. Elective examples include demographic methods and an economic research internship, although offerings vary. The published curriculum is designed to run across five semesters, including the intervening summer.

Wyoming’s economics MS draws on the department’s work in energy, natural resources, and behavioral and experimental economics. Students can supplement economics electives with approved study in statistics, programming, mathematics, or environmental subjects. The culminating choice is a research thesis or an additional course and shorter paper supervised by an adviser and committee. Preparation requirements include two calculus courses and linear algebra, which applicants should review before choosing their intended start term.

San Diego State’s economics MA includes a graduate internship and a seminar in applied economic research. In the seminar, students develop a proposal, carry out an approved applied microeconomics project, and present their findings orally. They also choose between a thesis and comprehensive examinations in microeconomics and econometrics. Up to nine approved units can come from outside economics, with suggested subjects ranging from financial risk management to comparative public policy and Bayesian statistics.

Hunter's Economics MA gives you a choice between a supervised thesis and a practicum in empirical analysis. Before that final work, the required curriculum covers microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, linear and nonlinear econometric analysis, and data analytics and research methods. Electives can include approved graduate work in related fields. Courses meet in the evening, which matters if you're balancing study with employment. The department expects prior calculus, econometrics and intermediate theory, so compare your transcript with those prerequisites before applying.

Arkansas packs this master's into ten months, two semesters running August to May, and it is STEM-designated. Applied microeconomics, introductory econometrics, forecasting and applied microeconometrics sit alongside two economic analytics courses, data exploration and communication, and an economic policy and data analysis course. Programming in Python, R and SQL, plus machine learning and optimization, give the economics a computational edge. A capstone applies the methods to real-world questions. Graduates have taken analyst and economist roles at Sam's Club, Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the GMAT or GRE is required unless a waiver applies.

Florida Atlantic’s economics MS offers a general track and concentrations in econometrics and data analytics or financial economics. The analytics concentration adds panel data and choices such as data mining or business applications of artificial intelligence; the finance route draws on monetary economics and graduate finance courses. Students may complete the degree through coursework or replace part of that coursework with a six-credit thesis. Core study also includes game theory and economic growth.