Doctoral Programs in Economics

Harvard University

• In 2010, "U.S. News and World Report" ranked Harvard University as the best university in the United States, and in 2009, the school's economics program tied for first place among all similar programs in the country. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the university offers a traditional Ph.D. program in economics as well as business economics and politics and economics doctorate programs. Students can apply with only a bachelor's degree and earn their master's degree concurrently with the Ph.D. In the traditional program, students spend the first two years completing coursework in micro and macroeconomics. At the conclusion of the second year, students complete a comprehensive oral examination and then begin work on their dissertation during the third year. Students are eligible for partial assistantships and grants during their first two years in the program, and after the third year, students typically receive full aid packages.

  Harvard University
  Undergraduate Admissions Office
  86 Brattle St.
  Cambridge, MA 02138
  617-495-1551
  economics.harvard.edu

University of Chicago

• The University of Chicago was among the schools tied for first on "U.S. News and World Reports" 2009 rankings for economics programs, and the university received the eighth-place rating overall from the magazine in 2010. At the doctorate level, students can opt for either the traditional economics concentration or a financial economics designation sponsored through cooperation with the university's Booth School of Business. Approximately 25 to 35 applicants receive admission annually, and a bachelor's degree is the minimum education required. The traditional program allows students to conduct their research in price theory, the theory of income, mathematical economics, economic history, monetary economics, labor, international trade, macroeconomics, asset pricing, industrial organization or behavioral economics. Written comprehensive examinations occur at the end of the second year with students then beginning their dissertation. All students in the program receive either two or five years of complete funding, which covers the cost of tuition and pays a monthly stipend.

  University of Chicago
  5801 South Ellis Ave.
  Chicago, IL 60637
  773-702-8650
  economics.uchicago.edu

University of California, Berkeley

• A public institution, the University of California, Berkeley earned the sixth-place ranking among economics programs in 2009 from "U.S. News and World Report" and the 21st-place ranking among all universities. Located 10 miles from San Francisco, the university offers a traditional economics doctoral program and a combined Ph.D. in law and economics. The first two to three years of the program consist of courses and seminars as well as the two comprehensive written examinations. Areas of specialty offered at the university include comparative economics, economic development, demography, history, financial economics, institutional economics, industrial economics, international trade, labor, mathematical economics, political economics, psychology and economics and public finance. Assistantships and fellowships are available to economics doctorate students, but the university cannot grant such funding to everyone in the program.

  University of California, Berkeley
  110 Sproul Hall
  Berkeley, CA 94720-5800
  510-642-3175
  berkeley.edu