Economics Major, BA (Arts and Sciences) - Five-Year BA/MA Program

The Department of Economics offers an accelerated 5-year Bachelor’s/MA program for qualified students. With prior approval, students may take up to 9 credit hours of 400-level or 500-level courses that satisfy their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees at UT-Knoxville. Students first obtain a BA degree in Economics through the College of Arts and Sciences or a BSBA in Economics through the Haslam College of Business. Then, with an additional two semesters of coursework complete an MA in Economics. Students are typically considered for conditional admission to the accelerated program prior to their last year of undergraduate studies.

Important guidelines and admissions requirements are as follows:

• Applicants must have declared an economics major in either the College of Arts and Sciences or the Haslam College of Business.
• Students first apply to the department for conditional admission to the accelerated combined program after completing a minimum of 64 credit hours of required coursework towards the undergraduate major. Students are strongly encouraged to have taken one year of calculus, ECON 311, ECON 313, and ECON 381 prior to applying.
• Students must at least have conditional admission before taking courses that will count for both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. These courses must be approved by the department and Graduate School. To obtain approval from the Graduate School, students must request permission from the Graduate School to take approved courses for graduate credit by submitting the Senior Requesting Graduate Credit form. This form must be completed and submitted to the Graduate School before each semester in which the undergraduate student enrolls in courses for graduate credit.
• Students must follow the normal procedure for admission to the master’s program by submitting the online admission application to the Graduate School during their last year of undergraduate studies. Students will be fully admitted to the MA program after they have been accepted by both the Graduate School and the Department.
• Students will not be eligible for graduate assistantships until they are enrolled as graduate-level students in the Graduate School.