5 Year Joint-Degree Program /
ECON-MPIA (IED)
Bush School of Government & Public Service and Department of Economics
The Bush School of Government & Public Service and the Department of Economics offer a joint-degree program that allows economics majors to enter the Bush School at the beginning of their fourth year at Texas A&M University. This enables students to receive both their economics undergraduate degree (B.S. or B.A.) and a Master of International Affairs (MPIA) graduate degree, with an emphasis on the International Economics and Development (IED) track, in five years.
Description
Students admitted to the joint-degree program will have completed 96 of the 120 hours of course work required to receive a bachelor's degree. These courses must include all of the specific prerequisites for either a bachelor of science or a bachelor of arts degree in economics, as well as the courses required by the College of Liberal Arts and by Texas A&M University for an undergraduate degree.
Economics Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts
- ACCT 209, 210 or 229, 230 (6 hrs, BS); ACCT 209 or 229 (3 hrs, BA)
- English Writing (6 hrs)
- English Literature (6 hrs)
- History (6 hrs)
- Political Science (6 hrs)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (6 hrs)
- Humanities and Fine Arts (9 hrs)
- Natural Sciences (8 hrs)
- Modern Language, intermediate level (6 hrs, BA)
- Quantitative Methods (12 hrs, BS); (9 hrs, BA)
- Kinesiology (2 hrs)
- Economics Electives (24 hrs, BS)
- BS or BA General Electives (5 hrs)
Admitted students will be enrolled in Bush School graduate courses with an undergraduate classification (U4) during the fall of their fourth year and will be re-classified as degree-seeking master's students (G7) upon completing 108 credit hours. This will normally occur at the start of the spring semester of the fourth year.
Students will be required to complete the same 2-year, 48-hour curriculum as other students admitted to the Bush School's MPIA program with an emphasis on the International Economics and Development track (not the National Security track). The standard curriculum includes 6 core courses, at least two concentration areas of 3 courses each, and 4 elective courses or an additional concentration. Joint program participants must choose two areas of concentration from the 3 modules that are sponsored by the IED track, including International Economic Development, International Economics, and Transfer Pricing. They also must take Quantitative Methods in Public Mgmt II (BUSH 632) as one of their area concentration courses. An international internship or an intensive language and cultural study for those without substantive professional experience is completed in the summer between the first and second year. All students for whom English is their native language must pass an oral examination demonstrating proficiency in one foreign language before graduation.
Administration/Application
Economics majors who have at least a 3.25 GPA and who will have taken all of their prerequisite courses and otherwise completed 96 hours by the fall of their fourth year will be eligible to apply for the 5-year program during their junior year. Applicants to the 5-year program will submit the same materials (including GRE scores) as other MPIA applicants, and those whose records are judged to be competitive by the mid-January deadline will be invited to attend the Bush School Interview Weekend in late February. Admission criteria for the 5-year program will be the same as for other MPIA-IED students.
Students who choose not to finish the MPIA degree after being admitted to the 5-year program may exit the program at any time. Completed MPIA courses will be applied to their bachelor's degree in economics, as appropriate. Failure to complete the MPIA program will in no way impede their ability to attain a bachelor's degree in economics when the requirements for that degree are completed.
Those who pursue the joint program will receive both degrees upon completion of the entire 5-year program. Students will not graduate with a bachelor's degree in year four, but rather will earn both their Bachelor of Economics and Master of International Affairs at the end of year five.
Curriculum
Fourth Year
Fall
- BUSH 601: Leadership and Public Admin*
- BUSH 605: American Foreign Policy since WWII*
- BUSH 608: Fundamentals of the Global Economy (1)
- BUSH 631: Quantitative Methods I* (2)
Spring
- BUSH 606: Int'l Politics in Theory & Practice*
- BUSH 632: Quantitative Methods II (3)
- Concentration course (1)
- Concentration course* or elective*+
Summer
- Professional international internship or intensive language and cultural study
Fifth Year
Fall
- Four concentration courses or electives+
Spring
- BUSH 670: Capstone Seminar
- Three concentration courses or electives+
(1) GBS course double-counted as economics elective
(2) GBS course double-counted as quantitative requirement (BA)
(3) GBS course double-counted as ECMT 463 economics requirement
* GBS courses double-counted as general electives
+ Up to 2 electives may be taken outside of the Bush School with advisor approval
Advising
Advising for the 5-year program is a coordinated effort by the Undergraduate Advising Office in the Department of Economics and by the director of the MPIA program in the Bush School. Advising by the department will help ensure that interested students have satisfied the prerequisite course requirements for the bachelor's degree by the start of their senior year.
Students can speak to Dr. Richard Anderson, director of economics undergraduate studies, at rka@econmail.tamu.edu or 862-8081, or with Sara Ura at sura@econmail.tamu.edu or 845-9953.
Those wishing to contact the Bush School about the MPIA's curriculum may contact Janeen Wood at 458-2276 or jwood@bushschool.tamu.edu to set an appointment with MPIA program director, Dr. Charles Hermann.
For application and general information, please contact the Bush School recruitment director, Kathryn Meyer, at 862-3476 or kmeyer@bushschool.tamu.edu.
