Applicable only to students admitted during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Economics
College of Letters and Science
Graduate Degrees
The Department of Economics offers the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Economics and a Master of Arts (M.A.) for students on their way to receiving the Ph.D. The Master of Arts (M.A.) is also available for undergraduate students who are accepted into the Departmental Scholars Program.
Economics
Admissions Requirements
Master’s Degree
Advising
Entering students are primarily advised by the Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs and the First Year Adviser. First year students are encouraged to consult these advisers whenever doubts or questions arise about their proposed program or academic goals. As the student becomes more familiar with the faculty, the adviser initially assigned by the department may be replaced, at the student’s initiative, by a faculty member in the student’s area of interest and/or specialization.
In addition, the Graduate Committee meets once a year in the fall quarter after comprehensive examination results have been made known, to review the performance of each student in the program. At that time, a student making unsatisfactory progress is interviewed by a committee member and given guidelines for successful completion of the program. The Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs (who serves as the Chair of Graduate Committee) also meets with students who are failing to meet the university’s standard of scholarship (i.e., a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0).
Areas of Study
Econometrics; Economic History; Industrial Organization; International Economics; Labor Economics; Macro and Monetary Economics; Theory; Population and Public Sector Economics
Foreign Language Requirement
None.
Course Requirements
The department requires nine upper division and graduate-level courses (36 units) in economics completed while in graduate status at UCLA. At least seven of the nine courses (28 units) must be graduate-level courses in the department, one of which must be Economics 207, 241, or 242 (see general catalog for course descriptions). Students must earn at least a B average in all courses applied toward the degree.
With the prior approval of the Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs, students may take a maximum of two courses from departments outside of Economics. However, these courses may not substitute for the seven graduate-level courses required in the department.
With the prior approval of the Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs, four units of Economics 596 may be applied toward the total course requirement and the minimum seven graduate-level course requirement.
Teaching Experience
Not required.
Field Experience
Not required.
Capstone Plan
In addition to the course requirements, candidates for the M.A. degree must satisfactorily complete a written capstone requirement by passing at least two of the three first-year core comprehensive examinations at a M.A. pass or better. Examinations are graded H (Ph.D. honors pass), P (Ph.D. pass), M (M.A. pass), and F (fail).
A student can claim exemption from one and only one comprehensive exam if the student receives at least a B in all three courses in that sequence, AND an average grade of B+ (3.3 GPA) in the three courses in that sequence. The student does not have to select which comprehensive exam they would like to be exempt from until after they receive the exam results. For example, should a student receive an average grade of B+ in the microeconomics and econometrics sequences, they can still choose to take both sequences’ comprehensive exams. After they receive their exam results, they can select which sequence they wish to apply their exemption to.
Thesis Plan
None.
Time-to-Degree
It normally takes four quarters to earn the degree.
| DEGREE |
NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters) |
NORMATIVE TTD |
MAXIMUM TTD
|
| M.A. |
4 |
4 |
6 |
Doctoral Degree
Advising
Entering students are primarily advised by the Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs and the First Year Adviser. First year students are encouraged to consult these advisers whenever doubts or questions arise about their proposed program or academic goals. As the student becomes more familiar with the faculty, the adviser initially assigned by the department may be replaced, at the student’s initiative, by a faculty member in the student’s area of interest and specialization.
In addition, the Graduate Committee meets once a year in the fall quarter after comprehensive examination and qualifying examination results have been made known, to review the performance of each graduate student in the program. At that time, a student making unsatisfactory progress is interviewed by a committee member and given guidelines for successful completion of the program. The Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs (who also serves as the Chair of Graduate Committee) also meets with students who are failing to meet the university’s standard of scholarship, (i.e., a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0).
Students who have advanced to candidacy are required to submit an academic progress report by the end of each quarter to the Graduate Adviser and their Dissertation Committee chair.
Major Fields or Subdisciplines
Asset Pricing; Development; Econometrics; Economic History; Industrial Organization; International Economics; Labor Economics; Macro and Monetary Economics; Population and Public Sector Economics; Theory
Foreign Language Requirement
None.
Course Requirements
In their first year, students normally enroll in the Mathematics of Economics course (Economics 200) and the three first-year graduate core sequences in microeconomic theory (Economics 201A, 201B, 201C), macroeconomic theory (Economics 202A, 202B, 202C), and quantitative methods (Economics 203A, 203B, 203C).
Starting in the second year, students take coursework in three fields (or two fields and a breadth option) of their choosing from the following list:
Asset Pricing; Development; Econometrics; Economic History; Industrial Organization; International Economics; Labor Economics; Macro and Monetary Economics; Population and Public Sector Economics; Theory.
In their third year, students take the year-long research seminar sequence (Economics 209A, 209B, 209C).
All courses applied toward the degree must be taken for a letter grade, except for Economics 200 and the Economics 209 series, which will be graded on an S/U basis.”
After successfully completing all course requirements, first-year core written comprehensive exams, and second-year written qualifying examinations, students must enroll in and regularly attend a departmental workshop and a dissertation pro-seminar for each of their remaining quarters in the doctoral program.
Teaching Experience
Not required.
Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations
Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.
All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.
First-Year Core Written Comprehensive Examinations
To be eligible to continue in the doctoral program, students must pass the first-year core written comprehensive exams (with a Ph.D. pass or better) in all three first-year core sequences by the end of their second year. The comprehensive exams are offered twice a year, at the end of Spring quarter and at the end of summer. These exams are graded H (Ph.D. honors pass), P (Ph.D. pass), M (M.A. pass), or F (fail). Students who receive an M.A. pass but have not completed the required courses to obtain a Master of Arts degree may enroll in these remaining courses during the fall quarter after they take the comprehensive exam.
Students have three opportunities to pass their first-year comprehensive exams: after the Spring quarter in their first year, at the end of that summer, and after the Spring quarter in their second year. If a student fails to pass the three comprehensive exams with a Ph.D. pass or better by the end of their second year, they are ineligible to continue in the PhD program and will be recommended for academic disqualification. No exceptions will be made to this policy.
A student can claim exemption from one and only one comprehensive exam if the student receives at least a B in all three courses in that sequence, AND an average grade of B+ (3.3 GPA) in the three courses in that sequence. The student does not have to select which comprehensive exam they would like to be exempt from until after they receive the exam results. For example, should a student receive an average grade of B+ in the microeconomics and econometrics sequences, they can still choose to take both sequences’ comprehensive exams. After they receive their exam results, they can select which sequence they wish to apply their exemption to.
Second-Year Written Qualifying Examinations
All Ph.D. qualifying examinations are intended to determine competency in the overall field. While the courses offered are intended to prepare students for the second-year written qualifying examinations, and while the professors of the courses are normally also the examiners, the qualifying examination is not restricted solely to the material explicitly presented in course lectures or assigned exercises. Students are assisted in acquiring knowledge of the overall field by course reading lists that include recommended supplementary and complementary readings.
Students must take and pass (with a Ph.D. pass or better) the second-year written qualifying examinations in three doctoral elective fields, or two fields plus breadth option (see below), usually by the end of the second year. Examinations are graded H (Ph.D. honors pass), P (Ph.D. pass), M (M.A. pass), or F (fail). Written qualifying examinations are offered only once a year, after the end of Spring quarter. Written qualifying examinations may be retaken once, but no later than June of the student’s third year.
Each doctoral elective field selects their own format for second year qualifying exams: Written exams, field papers, or a combination of both an exam and a paper (see Graduate Handbook). For fields that require a field paper, students should submit the paper electronically to the Graduate Adviser. A field paper can only be submitted to one field, unless the committees of both fields agree to a different arrangement. If a paper, or parts of it, are being used to satisfy a field paper requirement in another field, the cover page of such paper should include a note to that effect and an explanation.
Breadth Option: Students may substitute one and only one of the three fields by course work, defined as three graduate-level courses taken in that field. Courses used to satisfy this requirement cannot include any courses that are part of the first-year graduate core sequences. The breadth option must include Economics 207, 241, or 242 (see general catalog for course descriptions). Students may apply courses at the graduate level (200-series) outside the Economics Department on written preapproval by the Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs. Only courses in which a minimum grade of B is earned may be used to satisfy this requirement.
Dissertation Proposal
The dissertation proposal must be completed by the end of the student’s second year, and is in most cases one of the second-year written qualifying examinations. This proposal is read and evaluated by a member of the department faculty, who certifies in writing that it satisfies this requirement. The dissertation proposal should be made available to the doctoral committee members at least two weeks prior to the date of the oral qualifying examination.
Oral Qualifying Examination
The University Oral Qualifying Examination, administered by the student’s doctoral committee, is scheduled after successful completion of all first-year core written comprehensive examinations as prescribed, successful completion of the second-year written qualifying examinations of three doctoral elective fields (or two fields plus breadth option), and the submission of a written dissertation proposal. The examination focuses on, but is not limited to, the dissertation proposal. If a student fails the oral qualifying examination, they are entitled to one retake; however, the oral exam must be completed before the student begins their fourth year.
Advancement to Candidacy
Students are advanced to candidacy and awarded the Candidate in Philosophy (C.Phil.) degree upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.
All students should have advanced to doctoral candidacy by the end of the spring quarter of their third year.
Doctoral Dissertation
Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.
Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Dissertation)
Not required.
Time-to-Degree
The department has established a six-year (18 quarters) normative time-to-degree plan which is divided into a two-year pre-candidacy period and a four-year candidacy period. It should be recognized that the amount of time necessary to complete the degree can vary widely among students, due to differences in previous training and other factors. All requirements for the Ph.D. degree must, however, be completed within seven calendar years (21 quarters) after entering the program.
| DEGREE |
NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters) |
NORMATIVE TTD |
MAXIMUM TTD
|
| Ph.D. |
6 |
18 |
21 |
Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification
University Policy
A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.
Special Departmental or Program Policy
Students who fail to pass all three first-year core written comprehensive examinations (with a Ph.D. pass or better) by July of their second year are ineligible to continue in the Ph.D. program. Students who do not earn Ph.D. passes in the second-year written qualifying examinations by the end of their third year are ineligible to continue in the Ph.D. program. Students who do not pass the oral qualifying examination by the beginning of their fourth year are ineligible to continue in the Ph.D. program.
A student who is not making satisfactory progress toward the degree is notified to meet with the Vice Chair of Graduate Affairs, who determines whether to recommend academic disqualification to the Graduate Committee. Academic disqualification is normally recommended in cases where a student has failed to: (1) maintain a 3.00 grade point average; (2) pass the first-year core written comprehensive examination by July of the second year; (3) pass all second-year written qualifying examinations by the end of the third year; (4) pass the oral qualifying examination by the end of the third year; (5) advance to candidacy by the end of the third year; or (6) complete all requirements for the degree by the end of the seventh year.
The student is informed of the Vice Chair of Graduate Affairs’ recommendation and has an opportunity to provide written materials in support of continued enrollment in the Ph.D. program. The Graduate Committee thoroughly reviews the student’s record as well as the supplementary materials provided by the student and makes a final recommendation to the Graduate Division.
