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COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

ECONOMICS

Student listening to lecture.

Students who major in Economics experience a rigorous curriculum that will prepare them to think critically in almost every enterprise.

Majoring in Economics provides a rigorous curriculum that will prepare you to think critically in almost every enterprise. This program is designed to promote quantitative thinking while fostering written and verbal communication skills so you are equipped to critically examine the effects of economic factors on market participants in the private and public sectors. Because of the growing complexity of the global economy, there is an increase in the demand for individuals who can provide and communicate quantitative analysis of economic variables and their effects on forecasting sales, managing costs, allocating budgets and choosing investment options.

While the major provides the framework for how firms and governments operate, a minor offers an understanding of domestic and global economies and markets.

WHY ECONOMICS?

Economics majors are prepared to pursue a wide variety of careers in industries such as banking and financial services, private and public sector management, financial and economic consulting, teaching, law, government or corporate research, health service administration, and information services. They are hired as analysts (research, financial, or investment), management trainees, sales associates, auditors, or consultants. Students often continue with graduate work in economics, law, public policy, health sciences, or pursue careers on Wall Street or in Fortune 500 firms, hedge funds, federal and state government agencies, or consulting firms.

The following is a selection of companies that have hired economics students for full-time and internship positions:

  • Bank of America
  • Barclays Capital
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics
  • Citigroup, Inc.
  • Deloitte
  • Federal Reserve Bank
  • Guidehouse
  • IHS Global Insight
  • ING Bank FSB
  • Internal Revenue Service
  • Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc.
  • KPMG
  • Morgan Stanley
  • The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Erasmus Kersting, PhD
Chair, Economics

Mary Kelly, PhD
Associate Chair, Economics

Why Economics?

Why Economics?

  

RELATED PROGRAM

The Villanova School of Business also offers an economics degree. The required courses for the major and minor differ slightly based on the college from which the degree is granted.

ECONOMICS IN VSB

WHO WE ARE

BRIDGET RYAN ’20 CLAS

Bridget Ryan ’20 CLAS is an associate economist at Moody’s Analytics. She covers the economies of Slovakia, Nigeria, Virginia, and several US metro areas. Bridget graduated from Villanova with a bachelor’s degree in economics and psychology. Her capstone research focused on the impact of female labor force participation on international market volatility, and she was the inaugural winner of the Fr. Farrell Undergraduate Research Award.

RYAN ZALLA ’17 CLAS

Ryan Zalla ’17 CLAS majored in mathematics and economics. He founded the Villanova Society of Actuaries and interned in data analytics and insurance. He completed the Honors thesis track and won the Adam Smith Contest, Falvey Scholars Award and Medallion of Excellence. Ryan is pursuing a PhD in economics at the University of Pennsylvania and plans to become an assistant professor.

MAGGIE SANBORN '18 CLAS

Maggie Sanborn '18 CLAS graduated with a bachelor's degree in Economics and a minor in Peace and Justice. While at Villanova, she interned with Catholic Relief Services and spent a summer in Madagascar, working on projects related to their savings-led microfinance initiative. Now, she's working at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on the Regional Economic Analytics team, primarily supporting regional survey work. She attributes her success thus far to the Economics department at Villanova and her professors, who developed her strengths and guided her interest in the field.

BERNARD ZITZEWITZ ’21 CLAS

Bernard Zitzewitz ’21 CLAS majored in Economics, Political Science and Humanities, and graduated from the Honors program. In his sophomore year, he studied abroad in Cambridge, UK through the Honors Politics, Philosophy, and Economics cohort, and he continued to follow this interest in the intersection of public policy and economics through a fiscal policy internship at the Heritage Foundation. Bernard is pursuing a career in economic consulting in San Diego.

EDUCATION WITH IMPACT

 

AN EDUCATION IN THE LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES promotes intellectual curiosity and rigor; instills the fundamentals of critical insight, mature judgment and independent thinking; and strengthens students’ sense of their moral responsibility for others and for the betterment of society.