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  1. Home
  2. Black School of Business
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  4. Economics

Advice for Majors

A minimum of 120 credits is required for the Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics. Students must earn a grade of C or better in each 300- and 400-level course in the major field.

Additional Advising Notes

  • Dr. Kerry A. Adzima, the program adviser, has a file of one-page course descriptions for upper-level ECON courses that give info on what each course is really all about, how it is graded, whether there's a paper/project, etc. Stop by her office (276 Burke) to get your copy, or email her at [email protected].
  • Business Economics majors should consider joining the campus Econ club, the Society of Undergrad Economists (SUE). Meetings are usually every other Tuesday, and include free pizza. The club also typically goes on a spring road trip to places like New York City. 
  • You should be creating a portfolio of your work that you can use in your job search. This should include copies of major papers you do in your Econ classes. If you can demonstrate that you know how to find, download, and clean up data, use Excel, do statistical analysis (e.g., correlation, regression, hypothesis testing), write clearly and correctly, and create graphs, you greatly improve your chances of getting hired. Our grads have often told us that showing a prospective employer a research paper has helped get them interviews and jobs. Make a point of doing this!
  • You may also want to consider doing a summer undergraduate research project and applying for a grant from the college to do it. ECON 485 (Econometrics) is especially good preparation for this.

Career Advice

It is strongly recommended that you contact Career Services to discuss what you should be doing NOW to help ensure a job or admission to grad school after graduation. During their junior year, students are STRONGLY ADVISED to take the job search course offered by Career Services.

We have nearly 200 grads from our ECNS and BECON programs over the years, and we keep in touch with many of them. They live in Erie and in many other cities throughout the country, and work for a broad variety of employers in both the government and private sectors. Many of them got their start as research assistants for the Economic Research Institute of Erie (ERIE) located right here on the Behrend campus. If you would like to connect with some of them or find out more about research opportunities through ERIE or elsewhere, please contact Dr. Ken Louie, director of ERIE.

Useful Resources

Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook

Job Opportunities for Economists

Our graduates have found employment at several of the following organizations/agencies:

  • Bureau of Economic Analysis
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics
  • U.S. Census Bureau
  • U.S. Department of Commerce
  • Federal Reserve System
  • U.S. Government
  • Moody's Analytics/Economy.com

Economics

  • Advice for Majors
  • Economics Faculty
  • Request More Information

See Also

  • Curriculum
  • University Bulletin
  • Applied Economics Minor
  • Economics Newsletter
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Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, offers the learning opportunities of a major research university in a welcoming, student-centered campus environment.
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