Prerequisites for declaring the Major (B.A.)

1. Complete at least two graded economics courses at the University of Virginia.

• Grades received in courses taken outside the University’s Economics Department, such as transfer courses or direct credit courses offered through study abroad programs, are not included in the economics GPA.
• If a student is granted economics elective credit for a course taken in another school or department at the University of Virginia, the grade received in that course is not included in the student’s economics GPA.
• HIUS 2061 is cross-listed as ECON 2060, and HIEU 2051 was cross-listed as ECON 2050 until Spring 2015. ECON 2060 is (and ECON 2050 was) the same whether taught under the History or Economics numbers. A grade in HIUS 2061 (or HIEU 2051 taken before Spring 2015), therefore, would be included in the economics GPA.
• If a student fails a course and then retakes it, both grades – the failing grade and the grade received on the retake – enter into the computation of the economics GPA. If a student has taken and passed a course, grades received on any subsequent retake(s) are not included in the student’s economics GPA.

• Students who fail to obtain a C+ on their first attempt are permitted to try to meet the prerequisite a second time. Students who twice fail to obtain a grade of at least C+ in these courses, whether in the same or different courses, are ineligible to declare the economics major.  Students considering the concentration in financial economics or graduate work in economics are encouraged to take MATH 1310 and MATH 1320 (or APMA 1110 and APMA 2120) instead of MATH 1210 and MATH 1220.
• Pre­-matriculation transfer credit or a grade of C+ or above in MATH 2310, MATH 2315, or APMA 2120 will be accepted in lieu of calculus II to fulfill the prerequisite.  However, rule 3a still applies. Students who receive a grade below C+ in Calc II and choose to take Calc III instead of repeating Calc II are using up their second chance under rule 4a above. If they receive a grade below C+ in Calc III, they are ineligible for the major.
• Students who matriculate at the University with AP or transfer credit for one of the aforementioned calculus II or III courses are exempt from this prerequisite. Transfer credit cannot be used to satisfy this requirement after one has begun taking classes at the University.

Complete  ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) with a minimum grade of C+. 

Important Changes to the Calculus requirement

• Students who fail to obtain a C+ on their first attempt at completing ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) are permitted to retake ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) once. Those who fail to get a grade of at least C+ in two attempts are not eligible to declare an economics major.
• Credit is not given for both ECON 3010 and ECON 3110, and these courses are considered the same course for the purposes of this requirement.
• Students who have transfer credit for ECON 3010 at the time that they matriculate at the University are exempt from this prerequisite. Transfer credit cannot be used to satisfy this requirement after one has begun taking classes at the University.

• Students who fail to obtain a C+ on their first attempt are permitted to try to meet the prerequisite a second time. Students who twice fail to obtain a grade of at least C+ in the statistics courses listed above, whether in the same or different courses, are ineligible to declare the economics major.
• Students who matriculate at the University with AP or transfer credit for one of the aforementioned statistics courses are exempt from this prerequisite. Transfer credit cannot be used to satisfy this requirement after one has begun taking classes at the University.

NOTE: Students declaring in their 6th semester must have either completed or already be registered for ECON 3720, or ECON 4720 (STAT 3220, if completed before Fall 2013, is also acceptable). Students declaring after their 6th semester must have already completed ECON 3720 or ECON 4720 (STAT 3220, if completed before Fall 2013, is also acceptable).

Major Requirements

Required Courses

Complete five required courses—ECON 2010, ECON 2020, ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110), ECON 3720 (or ECON 4720), and ECON 3020.

• Students entering the University with transfer credit for ECON 3010 (or 3020) on their transcript, but do not have credit for ECON 2010 (or 2020), are exempt from ECON 2010 or 2020, respectively. However, they will be required to complete one additional ECON elective; in other words a total of 5 ECON electives must be completed for the major.
• Students who completed STAT 3220 before Fall 2013 may use it to meet the ECON 3720 (or ECON 4720) requirement.
• Declared majors must complete ECON 2010, ECON 2020, ECON 3010 (or 3110), and ECON 3720 (or 4720) by the end of the sixth semester or they will be dropped from the major. Students wishing to declare an Economics major later than the end of their sixth semester must have already completed all of these courses.

Elective Courses

• Students must complete 4 elective economics courses, each of which must be at least 3 credit hours.  At least 2 courses must be numbered 4000 or above and no more than one 2000 level elective.  No Economics courses numbered 1000-1999 may be used towards the Economics major.

GPA

• Students must achieve at least a 2.0 economics GPA in order to graduate.
• Students who finish their sixth semester with an economics GPA below 2.0 will be dropped from the major.

Declaring the Major

• Review your student record to make sure you have completed all the prerequisites- the grades must be posted on SIS.  If any prerequisites are in progress, you are not yet eligible to declare. 
• Prospective majors and minors should submit the declaration form independently. The economics declaration guide will help students with this process.

Important Policies

• Certain courses can be transferred towards the major after a student starts at UVA (post-matriculation), however, certain restrictions apply. For more details please see the Transfer Credit section on the Department's website.
• Transfer students must meet all prerequisites.  They cannot automatically declare in the major.  Third-year transfer students considering the economics major are strongly advised to contact the Undergraduate Program Coordinator or schedule an appointment before selecting courses.
• No course taken credit/no credit may be used to satisfy major and concentration requirements.
• Students who declare their Economics major after Fall 2011 must complete at least four courses in Economics at the University of Virginia to graduate as Economics majors, whatever transfer credit they may have received for work done elsewhere.  For purposes of this rule, any class taught at the University of Virginia in another school or department of the University that is routinely accepted for major credit can be counted towards the total of four courses.
• Students who took prerequisite and other economics courses during the COVID grading semesters (Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, and Summer 2021) should refer to the Economics Grade Policies for COVID Semesters.
• Click HERE for important changes to the Calculus prerequisite