Montclair State University

Economics and Finance Department

Overview

The Department provides a high quality; liberal arts based economics and finance education to both undergraduate and graduate students in an environment of close interaction among faculty, students, and the local business community. As an integral component of the School of Business, the Department of Economics and Finance contributes significantly to achieving the goals of the University's broadly based liberal arts education.

With a well defined curriculum and dedicated faculty, the Department emphasizes the development of analytical reasoning, quantitative fluency, written and oral communication skills, and creative excellence. More specifically, the primary objective of our undergraduate programs is to enable students to acquire the knowledge, skills, and experience required for entry or mid-level managerial positions in economics and finance, both in the private and the public sectors. A second objective is to provide solid preparation for graduate work in economics and finance and related disciplines.

The department offers the following majors and concentrations:

• The B.A. in Economics (ECON)
• The B.A. in Economics with a Concentration in Business Economics (ECBE)
• The B.S. in Business Administration with a Concentration in Economics (BAEC)
• The B.S. in Business Administration with a Concentration in Finance (BAFN)
• An 18 semester hour minor in Economics
• M.B.A. with a Concentration in Business Economics
• M.B.A. with a Concentration in Finance

In addition, the department offers a Minor in Economics, as well as a six semester hour Departmental Honors Program in Economics. Each program is designed to equip our students with a mastery of the following as we have stated in our Strategic Charter: Thinking skills; Discipline-specific knowledge and competencies; Communication skills; Change management; Self-development.

The department provides over 50 day and evening course sections enrolling some 1,500 students per semester. These courses are delivered by an outstanding faculty, over ninety percent of whom have terminal degree qualifications in their fields. In addition to outstanding teaching, our faculty is also engaged in a broad range of research and scholarly activities, contributing actively to their disciplines through academic books, scholarly articles, presentations to academic and public policy meetings, as well as serving as consultants to a broad array of domestic and international institutions.

The Department also offers a variety of support programs. They include: the Economics and Finance Society, Omicron Delta Epsilon International Honor Society in Economics, and the Center for Economic Research on Africa, which sponsors major international conferences and publishes timely research studies on contemporary international issues.

Graduates from programs of the Department of Economics and Finance are employed in an array of competitive professional fields in the public and private sectors. In addition, a significant proportion of students also undertake graduate schooling and training within a period of five years following graduation. Graduates are enrolled in such institutions as New York University, Columbia University, Rutgers University, and the University of Chicago, among others.