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2024 Best Economics Master's Degree Schools

185 Colleges in the United States
4,803 Master's Degrees
$65,318 Avg Early-Career Salary
a master's degree in economics is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #41 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 185 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Economics Master's Degree Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 4,803 master's degrees in economics to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Economics School for Your Master's Degree

Best Economics Master's Degree Schools Your choice of economics for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality economics program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for economics students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Economics Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Economics Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The economics school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Economics Master's Degree Schools.


 

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Economics in the United States

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for economics students seeking a a master's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

25 Top Schools for a Master's in Economics

1
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
70 Annual Graduates

Harvard University is a good decision for students pursuing a master's degree in economics. Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in economics from Harvard University

2
Yale crest
Yale University
New Haven, CT
39 Annual Graduates

Yale University is a great choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in economics. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New Haven.More information about a master’s in economics from Yale University

3
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
78 Annual Graduates

Duke University is a great choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in economics. Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham.More information about a master’s in economics from Duke University

4
32 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in economics has to take a look at Northwestern University. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in economics from Northwestern University

5
131 Annual Graduates

Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a master’s in economics from Columbia University in the City of New York

6
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, TX
28 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in economics from Rice University

7

Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Those economics students who get their master's degree from Johns Hopkins University earn $30,083 more than the average economics student.

More information about a master’s in economics from Johns Hopkins University

8
68 Annual Graduates

UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a master’s in economics from University of Chicago

9
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
24 Annual Graduates

UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a master’s in economics from University of Pennsylvania

10
32 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in economics from Cornell University

11
Georgetown crest
Georgetown University
Washington, DC

Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington.

Master's recipients from the economics degree program at Georgetown University earn $3,377 above the typical college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in economics from Georgetown University

12
118 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in economics from University of Southern California

13
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
9 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in economics from Stanford University

14
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
47 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in economics from Vanderbilt University

15
Princeton crest
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
27 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in economics from Princeton University

16
209 Annual Graduates

UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the city of Madison.More information about a master’s in economics from University of Wisconsin - Madison

17
72 Annual Graduates

UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in economics from University of California - Los Angeles

18
Emory crest
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
34 Annual Graduates

Emory is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Atlanta.More information about a master’s in economics from Emory University

19
Brown crest
Brown University
Providence, RI
17 Annual Graduates

Brown is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Providence.More information about a master’s in economics from Brown University

20
58 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in economics from University of Maryland - College Park

21
5 Annual Graduates

WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a master’s in economics from Washington University in St Louis

22
Boston College crest
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
67 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.More information about a master’s in economics from Boston College

23
12 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in economics from University of California - Berkeley

23
98 Annual Graduates

UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Champaign.More information about a master’s in economics from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

24

Mines is a medium-sized public school located in the large suburb of Golden.

Those economics students who get their master's degree from Colorado School of Mines receive $29,486 more than the typical economics grad.

More information about a master’s in economics from Colorado School of Mines

Rest of the Top Best Economics Master's Degree Schools

26
Tufts crest
Tufts University
Medford, MA
27

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Economics students that almost earned our Best Economics Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
28 Boston University Boston, MA
29 New York University New York, NY
30 University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA
31 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
32 George Washington University Washington, DC
33 Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN
34 University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA
35 Williams College Williamstown, MA
36 Northeastern University Boston, MA
37 Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX

Economics by Region

View the Best Economics Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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Economics is one of 13 different types of Social Sciences programs to choose from.

Economics Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Econometrics & Quantitative Economics 3,384
General Economics 827
Applied Economics 240
Development Economics & International Development 238
Other Economics 86
International Economics 28

Related Major Annual Graduates
International Relations & National Security 4,426
Political Science & Government 1,936
Sociology 1,298
Geography & Cartography 1,076
Anthropology 941
General Social Sciences 596
Other Social Sciences 378
Urban Studies 351
Demography & Population Studies 51
Archeology 48

Notes and References

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