Top 10 Universities for Graduate/PhD programs in Economics in the USA

The USA is known for its superior prowess in education, be it at the graduate or at the Master’s level. Whether it is technical studies or arts and humanities, the Universities in the United States of America are known worldwide. Graduate programs in Economics leading to doctoral degrees are the most-sought after in the USA owing to superior academic expertise in this field. Every year, thousands of students visit the country to pursue their undergraduate, graduate or master’s, and PhD programs in Economics in the USA.

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Top 10 Universities for Graduate/PhD programs in Economics in the USA
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Apr 17, 2023 04:44 AM
Students after completion of their Master's/PhD programs in Economics will gain necessary knowledge to analyse the factors that impact a market, i.e., the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services, from a buyer's and seller's standpoint. Economics, mathematics, statistics, economic analysis, market analysis, financial analysis, etc., are some of the focus areas of this graduate program. International students with a Master's in Economics find their application mainly in the banking sector, commerce, trading companies and insurance sectors. In this blog, we will talk about the top 10 universities in the US that offer a graduate/master's/PhD programs in Economics. Not surprising, that most of these are IVY league universities only.

1. Harvard University

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Harvard University tops among the most prestigious and oldest institute of higher studies in the world. Harvard is also a private Ivy League university in Cambridge, established in 1636 and named after John Harvard. Being the extraordinarily huge and vast university that it is, Harvard offers 50 undergraduate majors, 134 graduate degrees, and 32 professional degrees, and has nearly 90 individual libraries. Harvard has been known for its superior alumni community and hence the graduate course in Economics is characterized with multiple guest lectures from the erstwhile alumni. In addition to this, sessions are dedicated specifically for case studies, most of which are live cases taken from within the immediate five years which makes the entire process very practical and up-to-date.
Program List :
🠪 Ph.D. in Economics
Course Details :
🠪 Admission Semester – Fall & Spring🠪 Programme Duration – 2 – 4 Years

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a well-known private research university located alongside the Charles River. This university is known for its phenomenal development in areas like modern science, mathematics, engineering, technology, and innovation, and the academic strength of its pedagogy. MIT has developed modern computing and has created advanced hacker options and culture as well. In the field of economics as well, the university has produced multiple Nobel laureates since its inception. MIT has been known for its superior research and the same extends to economics. The curriculum is intensive, and the focus is on macro as well as microeconomics with special emphasis being laid on thesis writing. It is not for nothing that MIT graduates have been known to be amongst the elite economic research teams of the countries.
Program List :
🠪 Master’s in Data, Economics, and Development Policy (DEDP)🠪 Ph.D. in Economics
Course Details :
🠪 Admission Semester Fall & Spring🠪 Programme Duration 2 – 4 Years

3. Stanford University

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Stanford University always features among the top five universities in the world. The university consists of seven schools, all in one campus. Three of these schools comprise of 40 academic departments for the under graduation. The professional schools include four schools out of seven Stanford University schools, and focus on graduate courses like medicine, education, law, and business. Stanford University’s Master’s in Economics involves an integration of automation and analytics in the regular curriculum. Thus, it would be great if the student who is looking at pursuing a Master’s at Stanford is versed with the analytical techniques or at least has an analytical frame of mind. Most of the courses revolve around analytics and hence basic understanding of statistical models will help.
Program List :
🠪 Master of Arts in Economics🠪 Ph.D. in Economics
Course Details :
🠪 Admission Semester – Fall🠪 Programme Duration – 2 Years

4. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

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The University of California is located in the U.S. state of California and is a public research university, founded on May 23, 1919. California University currently has ten campuses. Out of the ten schools, eight of them operate on the quarter system, and two of them follow the semester system. The University of California also manages three national laboratories and two regional libraries. The Master’s in Economics at the University for California is marked with its focus on internships and live-projects, so much that dedicated credits can be availed through such relevant industry exposure. Their intensive, one-year academic program enables students to master the three general areas of economics, and attain hands-on experience in specialized courses.
Program List :
🠪 Master of Applied Economics
Course Details :
🠪 Admission Semester – Fall & Spring🠪 Programe Duration – 1 Year

5. New York University

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New York University is a world known private university which was founded in 1831 by Albert Gallatin. The university is known for its high admit based upon merit criteria. Needless to say, NYU competes with Harvard and Stanford when it comes to the GRE/GMAT scores. The university has a total of 51,848 students on its campus, with 26733 undergrad students and 25,115 graduate students. The NYU has some of the world’s best economists as its alumni. The same reflects in NYU’s curriculum too which is heavily focused on industry interactions and engagement. The curriculum is case-study based and multiple professors of the course are industry stalwarts themselves giving the students the opportunity to learn from those who have been on field too.
Program List :
🠪 M.A. in Economics🠪 Ph.D. in Economics🠪 MBA ( Economics )
Course Details :
🠪Admission Semester – Fall🠪 Programme Duration – 5 years for both full- and part-time students

6. Princeton University

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Source : Forbes
Princeton University is another extremely famous private Ivy League research university, located in Princeton, New Jersey. The Princeton University was established in 1746 and was earlier known as the College of New Jersey. Princeton, considered as the fourth-oldest institution for higher education in the U.S., provides degree courses for both under-graduate and graduate in humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. The Master’s in Economics at Princeton is aimed at preparing students for a career in academics, industry as well as the government. The class size is roughly 25 students and the university tries hard to maintain the diversity in that. The major focus of the program is in Macroeconomics, International Finance and Industrial Relations.
Program List :
🠪 Graduate program in Economics🠪 Ph.D. in Economics
Course Details :
🠪 Admission Semester – Fall🠪 Programme Duration – 2 – 4 Years

7. University of Chicago

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The University of Chicago consists of one undergraduate college and five graduate research divisions. The university's graduate school is essentially divided into five divisions, viz. Humanities, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, and the Institute for Molecular Engineering, in addition to the seven professional schools. The University of Chicago teaches through case study modules with a healthy inclusion of industry based projects, with some credits allotted for industrial interactions in specific. The focus areas remain macroeconomics as well as world economics.
Program List :
🠪 Master of Arts in Economics (MAPSS-Econ)🠪 Ph.D. in Economics
Course Details :
🠪 Admission Semester – Fall & Spring🠪 Programme Duration – 2 Years

8. Yale University

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Yale University is also a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, that was founded in 1701 as a Collegiate School. Yale University is among the third-oldest institution in the U.S. and very recently got organized into fourteen constituent schools and twelve professional schools. The IDE program (International and Development Economics) offered by Yale University is a 1-year Master's program that equips the students to build necessary skill-set to work as economic analysts, policy analysts, while paving way for subsequent Ph.D work.
Program List :
🠪 IDE program (International and Development Economics)
Course Details :
🠪 Admission Semester – Summer-Fall🠪 Programme Duration – 1 Year

9. University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)

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The University of Pennsylvania, commonly known as the UPenn is another one of the private Ivy League college featuring in our list of the top 10 universities for Master’s in Economics in the USA. The University was founded in 1740 and is one of the nine colonial colleges that were chartered prior to the US declaration of Independence. The university was founded by none other than Sir Benjamin Franklin who was a vocal voice for the development of commerce, government and public service- a strong reason behind why UPenn has some of the greatest economists as its alums! The graduate economics program at UPenn is a Ph.D. program administered by the Graduate Group in Economics. The University of Pennsylvania does not offer a master's program in Economics. The program offers opportunities for students to conduct exceptional research in the area of economics, with focus on empirical microeconomics and modern macroeconomics.
Program List :
🠪 Graduate Program in Economics🠪 Ph.D. in Economics
Course Details :
🠪 Admission Semester – Fall & Spring🠪 Programe Duration – 5 plus years

10. Northwestern University

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A private research university based in Evanston, Illinois, the Northwestern University was founded in 1851. The NWU is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and has roughly 22000 students enrolled in its full-time courses. The NWU keeps getting ranked as amongst the top 10 by several publications for its programs in Economics. The Department of Economics at the Northwestern University offers a Ph.D. program in Economics, while awarding students with MA degree after successful completion of the first year of the doctoral program.
Program List :
🠪 MA in Economics🠪 Ph.D. in Economics
Course Details :
🠪 Admission Semester – Fall & Spring🠪 Programme Duration – 2 Years

Conclusion

The United States of America is very popular for Ivy League schools that offer graduate and doctoral programs in Economics. Economic graduates passing out of these premier educational institutes in the US will gain the necessary expertise to work at the forefront of global financial sectors. This article lists out the top 10 universities in the USA offering Graduate/PhD programs in Economics, along with course details and relevant links to the university websites. We hope this article helps you make an informed decision in choosing the right course/university based on your requirements. Do read the below article to learn about the application process for a master's program in the US.