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It's Basic Supply and Demand, Bro

Economics

The "Chicago Boys" Free Market Fan Club

The spiritual home of "Freshwater" economics. They love rational expectations, worship at the altar of Milton Friedman, and firmly believe that most government intervention is a well-intentioned mistake.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 U. of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 548 5% 63% / 37% 24% $158,769 —
2 Carnegie Mellon
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 47 11% 55% / 45% 28% $135,109 —
3 George Mason
Fairfax, VA
Fairfax, VA 76 72% 75% / 25% 13% $92,354 —
4 Stanford
Stanford, CA
Stanford, CA 109 4% 51% / 49% 20% $131,586 —
5 Northwestern
Evanston, IL
Evanston, IL 241 7% 61% / 39% 16% $126,908 —
6 U. of Rochester
Rochester, NY
Rochester, NY 59 42% 64% / 36% 51% $95,283 —

The "Saltwater" Keynesian Minions

The coastal elites who believe markets are inherently flawed and the government should occasionally do something about it. High prestige, heavily theoretical, and very likely to produce a Treasury Secretary or Fed Chair.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 Harvard
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 242 3% 64% / 36% 16% $149,306 —
2 Princeton
Princeton, NJ
Princeton, NJ 124 4% 62% / 38% 17% — —
3 MIT
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 6 5% 50% / 50% 0% — —
4 Brown
Providence, RI
Providence, RI 174 5% 64% / 36% 13% $111,194 —
5 Columbia
New York, NY
New York, NY 277 4% 65% / 35% 29% $124,443 —
6 U. of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Berkeley, CA 631 11% 53% / 47% 29% $111,182 —
7 U. of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 174 4% 63% / 37% 18% $155,343 —
8 Yale
New Haven, CT
New Haven, CT 165 4% 65% / 35% 18% $126,126 —

Math Masochists & Stata Sorcerers

These programs are practically applied math degrees in a trench coat. If you don't dream in calculus and breathe heavy econometrics, you will not survive here.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 Caltech
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena, CA — 4% — — — —
2 Duke
Durham, NC
Durham, NC 168 5% 61% / 39% 10% $166,349 —
3 Georgia Tech
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta, GA 46 13% 61% / 39% 15% — —
4 Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore, MD 42 6% 69% / 31% 19% $136,937 —
5 New York University
New York, NY
New York, NY — 9% — — — —
6 Rice
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 48 8% 60% / 40% 23% $108,070 —
7 U. of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla, CA 225 29% 72% / 28% 40% $109,004 —
8 U. of Texas at Dallas
Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX 48 72% 75% / 25% 2% $73,399 —

Capitol Hill Policy Wonks

Beltway-adjacent programs where everyone is interning at a think tank, the CBO, or the World Bank. Half the class is actually secretly a double major in International Relations.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 American University
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 52 66% 63% / 37% 42% $87,106 —
2 George Washington
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 63 47% 51% / 49% 25% $94,893 —
3 Georgetown
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 138 13% 47% / 53% 43% $94,403 —
4 Syracuse
Syracuse, NY
Syracuse, NY 176 35% 72% / 28% 49% $76,274 —
5 Tufts
Medford, MA
Medford, MA 148 10% 66% / 34% 22% $116,781 —
6 U. of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD
College Park, MD 250 45% 70% / 30% 6% $83,555 —
7 U. of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Charlottesville, VA 260 12% 69% / 31% 9% $94,991 —

I Actually Wanted to do Finance

Elite private schools where the Economics major is essentially a massive pipeline to Wall Street investment banking, mostly because the school doesn't offer undergrad business or it's too hard to get into.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
Chestnut Hill, MA 331 13% 67% / 33% 17% $104,420 —
2 Cornell
Ithaca, NY
Ithaca, NY 145 7% 67% / 33% 24% $120,062 —
3 Dartmouth
Hanover, NH
Hanover, NH 163 6% 63% / 37% 15% $145,995 —
4 Emory
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta, GA 73 12% 56% / 44% 33% $107,869 —
5 Fordham
Bronx, NY
Bronx, NY 93 47% 59% / 41% 10% $95,181 —
6 Indiana
Bloomington, IN
Bloomington, IN 62 76% 76% / 24% 21% $94,115 —
7 Southern Methodist
Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX 172 48% 72% / 28% 5% $99,925 —
8 U. of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN
Notre Dame, IN 157 9% 61% / 39% 8% $130,714 —
9 U. of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 198 12% 62% / 38% 33% $85,380 —
10 Vanderbilt
Nashville, TN
Nashville, TN 229 4% 66% / 34% 16% $138,117 —
11 Wake Forest
Winston-Salem, NC
Winston-Salem, NC 122 15% 76% / 24% 7% $116,496 —
12 Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO
Saint Louis, MO 129 8% 73% / 27% 8% $86,172 —

The Aggie-Econ & Applied Regressions Guild

Massive land-grant universities with historically powerhouse agricultural economics, resource econ, and applied micro programs. You will run regressions on corn yields, labor markets, and energy grids.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 Auburn
Auburn, AL
Auburn, AL 35 47% 83% / 17% 17% — —
2 Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO
Fort Collins, CO 76 82% 70% / 30% 7% $68,989 —
3 Iowa State
Ames, IA
Ames, IA 22 85% 86% / 14% 9% $91,245 —
4 Michigan State
East Lansing, MI
East Lansing, MI 234 83% 81% / 19% 21% $86,567 —
5 North Carolina State
Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, NC 96 40% 72% / 28% 6% $85,823 —
6 Oklahoma State
Stillwater, OK
Stillwater, OK 3 55% 67% / 33% 33% — —
7 Oregon State
Corvallis, OR
Corvallis, OR 66 75% 80% / 20% 8% $72,887 —
8 Pennsylvania State
University Park, PA
University Park, PA 355 55% 76% / 24% 38% $89,303 —
9 Purdue
West Lafayette, IN
West Lafayette, IN 135 43% 64% / 36% 40% $88,353 —
10 Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX
College Station, TX 367 52% 76% / 24% 1% $82,776 —
11 U. of California, Davis
Davis, CA
Davis, CA 877 44% 56% / 44% 29% $76,601 —
12 Washington State
Pullman, WA
Pullman, WA 50 75% 86% / 14% 8% $82,658 —

Mega-Macro State Factories

Massive public universities churning out thousands of econ grads a year. They have excellent faculties, huge intro lectures, and your TA will probably be the one actually teaching you micro theory.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 Ohio State
Columbus, OH
Columbus, OH 184 49% 76% / 24% 29% $79,186 —
2 U. of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
Irvine, CA 873 29% 57% / 43% 44% $65,431 —
3 UCLA
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 738 9% 55% / 45% 18% $89,189 —
4 U. of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Barbara, CA 669 38% 63% / 37% 16% $95,529 —
5 U. of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO
Boulder, CO 188 71% 87% / 13% 6% $82,875 —
6 U. of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Gainesville, FL 280 23% 66% / 34% 8% $76,612 —
7 U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
Champaign, IL 366 37% 50% / 25% 23% $92,112 —
8 U. of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor, MI 651 16% 66% / 34% 21% $115,561 —
9 U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
Chapel Hill, NC 349 17% 71% / 29% 13% $102,963 —
10 U. of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX
Austin, TX 383 22% 63% / 37% 11% $101,010 —
11 U. of Washington
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA 241 42% 51% / 49% 53% $84,770 —
12 U. of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI
Madison, WI 431 41% 72% / 28% 22% $91,353 —

Urban Economists & Regional Anchors

Solid programs situated in or near major cities, providing great pipelines to local corporate finance, consulting, and data analytics gigs. Less ideological warfare, more "let's get a job."

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 Arizona State
Tempe, AZ
Tempe, AZ 142 88% 70% / 30% 23% $73,715 —
2 Boston
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 291 13% 59% / 41% 56% $82,369 —
3 CUNY City
New York, NY
New York, NY 99 42% 65% / 35% 4% $60,277 —
4 Florida International
Miami, FL
Miami, FL 154 42% 68% / 32% 9% $72,502 —
5 Georgia State
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta, GA 75 58% 56% / 44% 8% $75,068 —
6 Northeastern
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 195 6% 58% / 42% 35% $91,000 —
7 Temple
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 51 55% 57% / 43% 10% $76,030 —
8 Tulane
New Orleans, LA
New Orleans, LA 85 15% 49% / 51% 5% $93,119 —
9 U. of Central Florida
Orlando, FL
Orlando, FL 111 43% 73% / 27% 10% $74,657 —
10 U. of Connecticut
Storrs, CT
Storrs, CT 410 54% 72% / 28% 30% $77,433 —
11 U. of Houston
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 124 55% 69% / 31% 10% $76,727 —
12 U. of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 51 55% 63% / 37% 8% $76,760 —
13 U. of Miami
Coral Gables, FL
Coral Gables, FL 105 17% 80% / 20% 27% $65,533 —
14 U. of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 163 59% 65% / 35% 13% $75,154 —
15 U. of South Florida
Tampa, FL
Tampa, FL 226 35% 75% / 25% 19% $60,764 —

Comparative Advantage State Anchors

Dependable state flagships and regional staples where you'll get a solid grounding in supply and demand without the elite pretense. Great for local government jobs, regional banking, or general business prep.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl 5-Year Earn
1 U. of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
Tuscaloosa, AL 94 75% 61% / 39% 0% — —
2 Baylor
Waco, TX
Waco, TX 42 52% 67% / 33% 5% — —
3 Florida State
Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee, FL 202 20% 79% / 21% 1% $70,934 —
4 Lincoln
Lincoln University, PA
Lincoln University, PA — 70% — — — —
5 Louisiana State
Baton Rouge, LA
Baton Rouge, LA 13 72% 85% / 15% 8% — —
6 Texas Tech
Lubbock, TX
Lubbock, TX 60 69% 72% / 28% 3% $71,721 —
7 U. of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA
Riverside, CA 310 86% 67% / 33% 19% $59,235 —
8 U. of California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA
Santa Cruz, CA 130 73% 69% / 31% 22% $77,768 —
9 U. of Iowa
Iowa City, IA
Iowa City, IA 79 83% 77% / 23% 16% $89,036 —
10 U. of Kansas
Lawrence, KS
Lawrence, KS 37 88% 62% / 38% 14% $85,873 —
11 U. of Kentucky
Lexington, KY
Lexington, KY 31 90% 81% / 19% 3% $69,181 —
12 U. of Missouri
Columbia, MO
Columbia, MO 149 72% 77% / 23% 0% $79,527 —
13 U. of Oklahoma - Norman
Norman, OK
Norman, OK 52 72% 67% / 33% 13% $86,381 —
14 U. of Oregon
Eugene, OR
Eugene, OR 119 78% 78% / 22% 14% $73,443 —
15 U. of South Carolina
Columbia, SC
Columbia, SC 100 55% 73% / 27% 5% $86,972 —
16 U. of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City, UT 203 82% 74% / 26% 4% $84,551 —
17 Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
Blacksburg, VA 109 47% 69% / 31% 5% $85,901 —