Declaring a Major and Tracking Requirements
You have decided to declare economics as a major. Great!
Selecting an Advisor
Declaring is an important step and should be done as soon as possible to ensure major access to courses at registration. The economics department has dozens of wonderful faculty members to choose from and we encourage you to check out their profiles and fields of interest. You are welcome to set up a time to meet with as many as you would like before choosing an advisor.
Advisor Request Form
Alternately, we have created an Economics Advisor Request Form to gather a little information to help students who would prefer assistance getting matched with an available advisor.
This form is also used to help distribute advisees more equitably within the department when a student reaches out to a faculty member to request them as an advisor and that faculty member is not available to take on more advisees. The economics department coordinator will contact you regarding advisor options based on the information you submit and availability. Even after you choose (or are matched with) an advisor you should feel free to discuss anything with any of our department members. It is also important to note that if your interests or needs change, you can change advisors at any time.
Important note: Requests will be reviewed as time allows so please be patient. Major declarations will be processed prior to the beginning of each registration period.
Tracking Major Requirements
This section offers more detailed information regarding economics major requirements. It is suggested that both students and advisors familiarize themselves with this information and use the Qualtrics Economics Major Requirements Audit Form as a tool during advising sessions.
The Qualtrics Economics Major Requirements Audit Form should also be used by majors in the first semester of their senior year when the Registrar’s requires that each department confirm their seniors will have completed their major requirements for graduation. Students who are double majors can submit this form for econ and use whatever form their other major department requires or they ma choose to use the Registrar’s Degree Audit form (linked below) for both majors. If double majors choose this form, they should make sure that both department coordinators receive a copy.
There are other times when students require Degree Audit Forms for certain applications (e.g. staying a 9th semester, study abroad). In these cases, the department recommends using the Registrar’s Degree Audit form and obtaining the necessary signatures.
Prior to completing the Qualtrics Economics Major Requirements Audit Form, please carefully read the information below. The first part of the survey is certifying that you have read and understand the Economics major requirements.
FOR STUDENTS ENTERING FALL 2024
To meet the major requirements, students must successfully complete a minimum of eleven economics courses, which consist of the following seven core courses, ECON 0150, ECON 0155, ECON 0111, ECON 0211, ECON 0250, ECON 0255, one of ECON 0229, or ECON 0280, or ECON 0311 (formerly ECON 0212), and four electives, one of which must be at the 0400-level and one of which must be any of the following: a 0300-level course, another 0400-level course, or the ECON 0701/0702 senior workshop sequence. The other two electives may be 0200-, 0300-, or 0400-level courses. *Note: Beginning Fall 2024 ECON 0212 was renumbered to ECON 0311. Also, the following courses are approved to substitute for ECON 0111: MATH 0116, MATH 0310, PSYC 0201, STAT 0116, STAT 0201.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Students majoring in Economics cannot take any economics course beyond the 100-level for credit/no credit
FOR STUDENTS ENTERING FALL 2022
To meet the major requirements, students must successfully complete a minimum of eleven economics courses, which consist of the following seven core courses, ECON 0150, ECON 0155, ECON 0111 (formerly ECON 0210*), ECON 0211, ECON 0250, ECON 0255, one of ECON 0212, ECON 0229, or ECON 0280, and four electives, one of which must be at the 0400-level and one of which must be any of the following: a 0300-level course, another 0400-level course, or the ECON 0701/0702 senior workshop sequence. The other two electives may be 0200-, 0300-, or 0400-level courses. *Note: Beginning Fall 2022 ECON 0210 was renumbered to ECON 0111. Also, the following courses are approved to substitute for ECON 0111: MATH 0116, MATH 0310, PSYC 0201, STAT 0116 (new F23, formerly MATH 0116), STAT 0201.
MODIFICATION TO MAJOR REQUIREMENTS BEGINNING SPRING 2020
Beginning with the spring 2020 semester, economics majors have the additional option of taking one 400 level and one 300 level econ courses to fulfill the upper level elective requirements. This change affects only the composition of the upper level electives component of the major and does not affect the total number of econ courses required for the major.
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR ALL…
- Double counting courses towards the major requirements in economics is not allowed (e.g. students may not count MATH 0310 towards their economics major and also towards a math major or minor; students may not count ECON 0280 towards their ECON major requirements and also towards a math major or minor);
- Majors doubling in ECON and PSYC or ECON and MATH may count ECON 0111 (formerly ECON 0210), or MATH 0116, or MATH 0310, or PSYC 0201 or STAT 0201 towards the stats requirement for both majors when stats is listed as a required course in both majors.
- Students may not receive credit for both AP and the course it can replace. For example if you have AP Macro with a score of 4 or 5 and decide to take ECON 0150 at Middlebury, you forfeit your AP Macro credit. There is not double counting of credits allowed.
- A minimum of 6 economics courses must be taken at Middlebury;
- ECON 0240/IPEC 0240 does not count towards the ECON major requirements;
- ECON 0500 does not count towards the ECON major requirements;
- Economics electives taken during the winter term will count towards the major only if so designated in the winter term catalog.
- Electives can be 200, 300, or 400 level courses.
- Seminars are 400 level courses and the ECON Thesis workshop sequence (0701/0702).
- While students get two credits over two terms for the ECON Thesis workshop sequence (ECON 0701/702) only 1 credit is applied to the ECON major requirements.
- Calculating your economics GPA: Eleven courses is the minimum course requirement to major in economics; however, all ECON courses taken at the Vermont campus (including winter term) approved to count towards the major requirements are included in the economics gpa calculation. (e.g. If you take over the 11 minimum course requirement, you may not pick and choose which electives count towards the major.) ECON 0701/0702 sequence grade counts once only in the gpa calculation. Study abroad and other transfer credits are not included in the gpa calculation.
Additional Help
We hope you find this information helpful. If you have any questions regarding this information, please email them to the department coordinator, Amy Holbrook at holbrook@middlebury.edu, who will address them as time allows.
Updated 9/16/2024
Frequently Asked Questions
Q When should I declare?
Any time after the first semester but no later than the end of their third semester.
Q I have an advisor; how do I declare a major in economics?
The economics department has moved to handling major declarations electronically. Please use the fillable Major Declaration/Change Form, which can be found on the Registrar’s Forms. Once you have completed all of your information on the form, you should forward the form to your new advisor to sign. Once they have signed, they will forward the form to the academic coordinator who signs on behalf of the department chair. After which, the coordinator will email the form to you with a welcome note, copying the chair, your new advisor, and the Registrar’s office who is responsible for updating your information in the system.
Q How do I change advisors after I have declared?
After receiving approval from a faculty member to become your new advisor, you would complete the same form that you used to declare, the Major Declaration/Change Form.
It is a multipurpose form used to a) declare a major, b) change or drop a major, and c) change an advisor.
You simply complete your information at the top, select that you are changing advisors, have your new advisor sign the form, and submit it to the Registrar’s office. The chair’s signature is not necessary for an advisor change. This can all be done via email and it is helpful to copy the department coordinator so she may update your records within the department.