The leading graduate programs in economics, as rated by U.S. News and World Report in 2009, consist of Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton and the University of Chicago in a four-way tie for first, followed by Stanford University. All of these universities offer a Ph.D. program in economics.
In general, a doctorate in economics can require four to six years to complete. Students usually spend two years completing coursework in micro- and macroeconomics, economic history, econometrics and other subjects. In many doctoral programs, students can specialize in one or more concentrations. Popular specialties include international economics, economic history, financial economics and public finance. After the coursework, students must successfully pass one or more comprehensive examinations, then complete a dissertation of original research.
The top economics programs on the U.S. News list (Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Chicago and Stanford) do not admit students who plan to limit their graduate studies to completing a master's. They award master's degrees in economics only to doctoral candidates who complete a sequence of coursework and apply to receive the degree. Many other universities, however, award master's degrees in economics either as a terminal degree or in addition to a Ph.D. in the field. Leading universities, as ranked by U.S. News, that offer master's degrees in economics include Columbia University, Duke University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Boston University.
Many universities' economics departments include programs that offer master's degrees emphasizing a particular field of economic specialty or practice. Many of these degrees can be completed in about two years. Popular specialty programs include master's degrees in business economics, financial economics, international economics, applied economics and political economy (usually an interdisciplinary degree combining economics and political science). Programs of note include the master's program in international economics and finance at Brandeis University, the master's in applied economics at East Carolina University and the master's degree in policy economics at Tulane.