ERIC Number: EJ845956
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0485
EISSN: N/A
Trends in Undergraduate Economics Degrees, 1991-2008
Siegfried, John J.
Journal of Economic Education, v40 n3 p331-336 Sum 2009
This article reports on the trends in undergraduate economics degrees from 1991-2008. After three years of treading water, in 2008 undergraduate degrees in economics awarded by U.S. colleges and universities resumed the strong upward trajectory they exhibited from 1997 to 2004, when they rose 59 percent over seven years. The fastest growth in 2008 was among private colleges and universities, a bit more than 8 percent, whereas public institutions grew at a 4 percent rate. The weighted average growth rate from 2007 to 2008 was 6 percent. The 2008 data are the first that might reveal a "Freakonomics effect"--namely, the acceleration in undergraduate economics degrees potentially caused by some of the millions of people who read Levitt and Dubner's best-selling book, which sought to explain the dismal science. "Freakonomics" was first published in 2005. Most undergraduates who earned an economics degree in 2007-8 declared their major in the spring of 2006, so many of them (or their parents) would have had an opportunity to read "Freakonomics" by then. (Contains 3 tables.)
Descriptors: Economics Education, Undergraduate Study, Trend Analysis, Majors (Students), Bachelors Degrees, Graduation Rate, College Outcomes Assessment, College Graduates, Statistical Data, Gender Differences
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
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