Graduate Programs

In our continuing desire to improve graduate instruction and research at the University of Texas at Austin, we have made program changes that include unique opportunities for incoming students. The first year is an intensive introduction to micro and macro economic theory, probability and statistics, and mathematical economics.

The second year focuses student research in two fields as well as more intensive training in econometrics. Fields include such diverse topics as game theory, labor, industrial organization, international economics, environmental economics, computational economics, as well as many others. These classes are intended to immerse the student in creative research at an early stage in his or her career.

The student's research is evaluated by submitting a single-authored paper in the summer following their second year to a unique within-department refereeing process, much like faculty face when they submit papers to journals. These research topics are then perfected through presentations and more extensive revision processes in third and fourth year writing courses. This process is intended to prepare the student to submit his or her work to outside journals and conferences in their third and fourth years, as well as to prepare them for the job market.

Applying to the University of Texas at Austin

On average for the last five years, the PhD economics program received approximately 500 applications per year. We granted admission to approximately 100 applicants per year. Of those we admitted, just under forty percent we admitted with aid. Most financial aid is in the form of graduate assistantships, which require that the recipient carry out duties helping the faculty in their teaching or research. The entering classes have averaged 28 per year and included students from India, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Turkey, Iran, Russia, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, as well as the United States.

We judge applicants by course grades and the kinds of courses taken, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, the answers to the questions on the application, and other written work submitted. As for grades and courses, economics is unique among fields in the extent to which graduate programs at the top departments differ from undergraduate programs. The main difference involves the extent to which abstract mathematics is used. Therefore, good grades in undergraduate courses in Economics do not guarantee success in graduate school. Applicants should have taken a considerable amount of mathematics. As for GRE scores, the average scores of the student admitted in Fall 2008 were 570 verbal and 785 quantitative.