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Why Study Economics at New College?

At New College, our Economics AOC is designed to help you successfully confront the challenges of a rapidly changing world. The emphasis is on providing you with a conceptual framework with which to understand and assess the events and decisions that affect society at large as well as your own personal life. Upon graduation, should you continue on to graduate school or enter the job market? Should Europe abandon the euro? Should the Federal Reserve raise or lower interest rates in order to stabilize the economy? By mastering the tools of economic analysis, you will be able to evaluate questions such as these in a critical and systematic manner.

Economics area of concentration

“Economics is a method rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the mind, a technique of thinking which helps its possessor to draw correct conclusions.” – John Maynard Keynes

The goal of the economics program at New College is to provide students with the analytical tools that will enable them to understand and assess the events and decisions that affect society at large as well as their own professional and personal lives.

An understanding of economic principles is crucial to evaluating major national policy issues such as health care reform and international policy issues such as the desirability of free trade agreements. Students who master the “economic way of thinking” will be equipped to make intelligent decisions in their professional lives, whether they be an entrepreneur, a financial advisor, a lawyer, or an administrator for a nonprofit organization.

On a personal level, an understanding of basic economics is useful in making such critical decisions as whether to pursue a graduate education, whether to buy a house, or how best to invest one’s retirement portfolio.

The economics faculty also offers a “slash” AOC in finance, the requirements for which are listed below.

• View Economics Academic Learning Compact

• View Economics courses offered in last 5 years

 

Area of Concentration Requirements

The student must satisfactorily complete the required courses listed below plus four additional courses in economics. Only one of the additional courses can be a tutorial.

  • Introductory Microeconomics
  • Introductory Macroeconomics
  • Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
  • Intermediate Macroeconomics
  • Mathematical Tools for Economists (or equivalent)
  • Introductory Statistics (or equivalent).

A member of the economics faculty must be the thesis sponsor, who will be a signatory to the Thesis Prospectus/Area of Concentration form, along with at least one other member of the economics faculty.

Joint Disciplinary AOC Requirements

Economics/Other Discipline

The student must fulfill all the normal requirements for a disciplinary concentration in economics as listed above, including having an economics faculty member as thesis sponsor and the signature of two members of the economics faculty on the Thesis Prospectus/Area of Concentration form. At least one faculty member from the “other” discipline (or special program concentration) needs to agree that the student has completed sufficient work in that program to qualify for the joint-disciplinary concentration. This faculty member is also a signatory to the Thesis Prospectus/Area of Concentration form.

Other Discipline/Economics

In order to earn the slash AOC in economics the student must complete the two-term introductory sequence, plus four other courses in Economics, one of which must be either Intermediate Microeconomic Theory or Intermediate Macroeconomics. (For the purposes of this requirement, none of these additional courses can be a tutorial.) At least one member of the economics faculty must be a signatory to the Thesis Prospectus/Area of Concentration form.

Economics/Finance

The student must fulfill all the normal requirements for a disciplinary concentration in economics, as listed above. In order to earn a slash AOC in finance, the student must satisfactorily complete the following courses: Accounting, Corporate Finance, Money and Banking, International Business, Public Finance: Taxation, and Econometrics. Only two of these classes can be double-counted for the Economics AOC and the slash Finance AOC.

Other discipline/finance

In order to earn the slash AOC in finance, the student must satisfactorily complete the following courses: Introductory Microeconomics, Accounting, Corporate Finance, International Business, Public Finance: Taxation, and Introductory Statistics (or equivalent). At least one member of the economics faculty must be a signatory to the Thesis Prospectus/Areas of Concentration form.

Faculty

Careers of Economics Graduates

Senior Health Economics Analyst
UF Health

Financial Adviser
Raymond James

Business Analyst
Sequoya Group, Sarasota, Florida

Financial Planner
Retirement Money Management, Sarasota, Florida

Senior Economist
U.S. Government Accountability Office

SAMPLE PATHWAYS to complete AOC Requirements

These pathways show how you could complete the AOC requirements within four years at New College or within two years after earning an associate’s degree. Please consult with your academic adviser to determine the most appropriate courses for your area of concentration.