Duke University - Economics

Program Overview

The Master's Program in Economics at Duke University is designed be completed in three to four semesters. With the new "Summer 2" enrollment option, it is possible to complete the MA in one calendar year. This 12 month intensive option provides mid-career professionals a path to increase their quantitative skills and economic insight in a compressed schedule. 

The MA requires a minimum of 30 units of coursework (actual number completed dependent upon needs and prior preparation), with a curriculum of courses in economics and related fields designed by the student and his or her assigned Academic Advisor.

The Master's program is designed to give students a breadth of economic experience in both macroeconomics and microeconomics, with an emphasis on mathematics, but with enough flexibility in course requirements to allow students to pursue their own areas of academic interest. In addition to taking a variety of Master's level courses, students are welcome to enroll in doctoral level courses in Economics and graduate-level courses in related departments such as Political Science, Public Policy, Finance, Statistics, and Mathematics.

The MA in Economics does not require a thesis; however, students are required to produce a piece of original research, separate from classroom assignments, termed the "non-thesis academic exercise," which will allow them to evolve from a consumer of economic instruction to a producer of economic product. Alternatively, students may elect to complete a capstone course.

MA Program Director Charlie Becker discusses the size and interdisciplinary nature of the M.A. program in the following video.

Program Objectives

A vibrant MA program provides a rigorous program of studies to a select group of creative, bright individuals with baccalaureate degrees, but for whom the doctoral program is not currently appropriate. The Duke Master’s program in Economics aims to attract students comparable in ability to those in the Economics PhD program – though not always as advanced technically, or with a prior background in Economics. This group includes those gaining additional skills prior to entering a doctoral program, international scholars and researchers aiming for a 12-24 month period of retooling and gaining new skills, technical economists with more applied rather than academic interests, and those with interdisciplinary interests. The MA program also seeks to draw into Economics a highly diverse group – both in terms of background and experience – thereby enriching the graduate student body. The program’s coursework naturally overlaps with both undergraduate and doctoral programs, but also contains a set of specific MA courses, which also can be used to satisfy course requirements for some doctoral students from other departments.