Best Economics Programs in Virginia for 2027

Virginia makes you earn your way into the economics major. Before declaring, you need a C+ or better in each of three prerequisites, including Calculus I, a statistics course and intermediate microeconomics, and a 2.3 GPA in UVA economics courses. The major is five required courses (ECON 2010, 2020, 3010 or 3110, 3020 and econometrics) plus four electives, with at least two numbered 4000 or above. The four core courses, including econometrics, have to be finished by the end of the sixth semester or you are dropped from the major. Students heading to graduate work or a financial economics concentration are steered toward the more advanced calculus sequence.

Declaration Requirements

C+ or better in three prerequisites; 2.3 GPA in UVA economics courses

Major Structure

Five required courses and four electives, two at the 4000 level or above

Program Sources: Overview: Major | Department of Economics

William & Mary's economics BA draws about 400 majors a year and keeps the core small: principles of micro and macro, intermediate micro and macro, statistics and brief calculus. Majors then complete at least 30 credit hours at the 300 level or above, nine of them at 400 or above, and meet the writing requirement through a course such as American Economic History, Global Economic History or Experimental Economics. Honors is a full senior-year project (ECON 495 and 496) ending in a thesis defense, and a 3.5 economics GPA is required by junior year's end.

Upper-Level Credits

30 hours at 300 level or above, 9 at 400 level or above

Honors Project

ECON 495 and 496 senior year, thesis and oral exam

Program Sources: Economics (BA in Economics) | William & Mary Academic CatalogHonors Projects in Economics | Economics | College of Arts & Sciences | William & Mary

Virginia Tech offers its economics BA in the College of Science and lets you add one of three degree options. The Business option includes introductory accounting, finance, management and marketing courses. The Managerial Economics and Data Science option aims at data science and consulting careers. The Policy and Regulation option points toward government, nonprofits, law and public policy graduate study. Each option leaves 24 to 25 credit hours of free electives. The shared core is principles, intermediate theory, applied econometrics, statistical methods and 15 credits of economics electives.

Degree Options

Business; Managerial Economics and Data Science; Policy and Regulation

Core Requirements

Principles, intermediate theory, applied econometrics, statistics, 15 elective credits

Program Sources: Majors and Pathways | Department of Economics | Virginia Tech

James Madison's economics department sits in the College of Business and offers three bachelor's routes: a BA, a BS and a BBA. The BA and BS have been approved as STEM programs by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Business-school courses are tied to a formal acceptance into the College of Business, which simply checks that lower-level business courses are done and that you hold at least a 2.7 GPA, with no essay or interview. Internships and externships are encouraged and can count for academic credit, and concentrations and minors are available.

Degrees

B.A., B.S. and B.B.A. in economics

Business School Entry

Formal acceptance with a minimum 2.7 GPA; no essay or interview

Program Sources: Economics | Curriculum Overview | JMU

Washington and Lee builds its economics BA around six required courses: principles of micro and macro, Data Analytics for Economics, Econometrics, and micro and macro theory, then two 3000-level courses and four more electives. Classes are small and conversational, upper-level courses cover international trade, labor and environmental economics, and some travel-based courses are co-taught with anthropology or religion faculty. The department runs a biennial Washington, D.C. trip for career exploration and co-hosts a research seminar series with VMI. Qualified students can write an honors thesis.

Required Courses

ECON 1001, 1002, 2002, 2003, 2010 and 2011

Career Exploration

Biennial trip to Washington, D.C. and a research seminar series with VMI

Program Sources: About the Major

George Mason offers economics as a BA, grounded in the liberal arts and aimed at law school and business or public administration programs, or as a more quantitative BS for analyst careers and economics graduate school. Both are STEM-designated under Econometrics and Quantitative Economics. Students can add a Managerial Economics concentration or one in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Upper-level internship credit is available through ECON 398, with placements at Treasury, Commerce and congressional offices, and strong majors can apply to an accelerated master's after 144 total credits.

Concentrations

Managerial Economics; Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

Accelerated Master's

Bachelor's and master's together after 144 credits

Program Sources: Economics | Programs: BS in Economics

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.

Formats

On-campus evening classes or fully online with asynchronous courses

Intellectual Focus

Public choice, Austrian economics, experimental economics

Program Sources: Economics | Programs: MA in Economics

George Mason’s economics PhD offers fields with a clear institutional and political emphasis, including public choice, constitutional political economy, Austrian economics, and law and economics. Students pass examinations in two fields after core theory and quantitative coursework. The curriculum also allows an individualized field examination. Advancement to candidacy requires an approved dissertation proposal and committee, with original scholarship and writing for publication central to the department’s stated approach.

Degree Size

72 credits, including 18 core credits in econometrics, macroeconomic theory, microeconomic theory and mathematical economics

Exams

Qualifying exams in microeconomics and macroeconomics, then field exams in two knowledge areas

Field Options

Public choice, constitutional political economy, Austrian economics, law and economics, experimental economics, and an individualized field exam

Dissertation

12 to 24 credits of proposal and dissertation research

Program Sources: Economics, PhD | George Mason University CatalogEconomics, PhD | George Mason University Catalog

Virginia admits about twenty PhD students a year, with 80 to 90 in residence, and it offers no terminal master's. Students take core micro, macro and econometrics and pick two fields from industrial organization, international economics, macroeconomics, international finance, public economics, econometrics, development and labor. Most graded courses finish by the end of year two so dissertation research can begin that summer. Everyone admitted receives the same package: living support, full tuition and fees, and health insurance, renewable for up to five years. Applicants submit GRE scores, though the advanced economics test is not required, and students enter only in the fall.

Cohort Size

About 20 entering students; 80 to 90 in residence

Funding

Same package for every admit: stipend, tuition, fees and insurance for up to five years

Program Sources: PhD Program Overview | Department of Economics

Virginia Tech's economics PhD is STEM-certified and runs jointly between the Department of Economics and the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, so applicants apply under the program code ECSG. Graduate courses assume you have already taken intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. The program includes qualifying exams and a third-year paper, and the department publishes a four-year plan of study.

Administration

Joint between Economics and Agricultural and Applied Economics

Preparation Expected

Intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic theory

Program Sources: Graduate | Department of Economics | Virginia Tech