Off-Campus Studies can help Economics students …

  • Learn first-hand about different economic and political institutions as well as economic issues in other regions of the world
  • Gain awareness of the economics from a different scholarly tradition
  • Improve foreign language skills and cross-cultural communication and problem-solving skills
  • Prepare for an increasingly diverse and international workplace
  • Gain research skills from field studies or work with primary sources

How does a semester or year of OCS help students in Economics prepare for graduate school or various career opportunities?

  • Off-Campus studies can provide students with international, professional and scholarly contacts.
  • Research undertaken off campus can inspire and inform honors thesis research and provide a focus for graduate studies

As a general rule of thumb, the Economics Department recommends the following for students who wish to study off campus.

  • Students should begin enrolling in economics courses as soon as possible.
  • Students should successfully complete ECON 307 Intermediate Microeconomics and ECON 308 Intermediate Macroeconomics prior to studying off campus.  Note that MATH 125 Calculus I is a prerequisite for both of these courses.
  • The Economics department has added ECON 327 Introduction to Econometrics as a new major requirement in the 2019-2020 catalog that will apply to 2019-2020 sophomores declaring their Economics major. Students should successfully complete the prerequisites for this course before studying off campus. Those prerequisites include a statistics course, either ECON 227 Statistics for Economics or MATH 128 Elementary Statistics or MATH 247 Statistics with Applications. The prerequisites also include ECON 307 Intermediate Microeconomics.
  • Discuss your graduation plan fully with your Economics major adviser in your second year if you plan to study abroad.
  • Transfer of upper-level economics credits to fulfill the 310-490 level major requirements, and transfer of lower level elective economics credits needs the approval of the economics department. Please note that to qualify as upper division, at a minimum, economics courses abroad must have a prerequisite of Intermediate Microeconomics or Intermediate Macroeconomics.

Which requirements can Economics majors fulfill while off campus?

  • Elective major credit in consultation with your Economics major adviser
  • General Studies distribution credit
  • General degree credit

Major Credit Limitations

  • The maximum number of credits that can be applied to the Economics major from off campus studies (including AP credit, IB credit and credits from other U.S. institutions) is 8 credits with the approval of your major adviser.
  • Business and entrepreneurship courses typically cannot be transferred to Whitman because they are vocational in nature and not considered liberal arts.

Minor Credit Limitations

  • A minimum of three-fifths of the specific course and credit requirements for the minor must be completed in the on-campus program of the college.

What types of Programs are recommended by the Economics department?

  • Direct enrollment in a foreign university with local students or at a study center with other U.S. students.
  • Programs that offer an opportunity for an internship embedded in an academic course as part of a program
  • Programs that offer an opportunity for independent research

Which Partner Programs are recommended by the Economics department?

  • Students seeking to fulfill major requirements should consider direct enrollment at a university in the English-speaking world where upper-division economics courses are more likely to be available.
  • Students who do not need to fulfill major requirements and who wish to hone foreign language skills and learn about economic issues in another society may choose from a wide range of programs in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania.

Students interested in Off-Campus Studies should attend an OCS First Step meeting in the fall of their second year, discuss their interests with their major adviser, and schedule an appointment with an OCS adviser.