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2023 Most Popular Economics Schools

248 Colleges
$48,736 Avg Salary
$22,046 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Economics School for You

In 2020-2021, 6,173 people earned a degree or certificate in economics, making the major the #42 most popular in the United States.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Most Popular Economics Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 248 schools in the United States to see which programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Economics program at each school on the list.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Economics Colleges.

#1

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

Our analysis found Johns Hopkins University to be the most popular school for economics students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Baltimore.

Read full report on Economics at Johns Hopkins University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Madison. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Economics Schools list. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public school with a very large student population.

Full Economics at University of Wisconsin - Madison Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Columbia University in the City of New York. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Most Popular Economics Schools list. Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.

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#4

Boston University

Boston, MA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Boston University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Popular Economics Schools list. Located in the city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#5

Brandeis University

Waltham, MA

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Brandeis University is a great place for economics students. Located in the small city of Waltham, Brandeis is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

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University of Southern California came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Economics Schools ranking. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Full Economics at University of Southern California Report

#7

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Economics Schools ranking. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Full Economics at University of Chicago Report

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular economics programs. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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#9

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

Georgetown University ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Economics Schools list. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.

Read full report on Economics at Georgetown University

#10

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

With a ranking of #10, Harvard University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for economics students. Located in the city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Economics at Harvard University

#11

New York University

New York, NY

New York University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for economics students. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Economics at New York University Report

With a ranking of #12, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for economics students. Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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Texas A&M University - College Station landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular economics programs. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of College Station.

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#14

Duke University

Durham, NC

Duke University ranked #14 on this year’s Most Popular Economics Schools list. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Economics at Duke University

University of California - Los Angeles landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular economics programs. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population.

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#16

George Mason University

Fairfax, VA

George Mason University ranked #16 on this year’s Most Popular Economics Schools list. GMU is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Fairfax.

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University of Maryland - College Park came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Economics Schools ranking. UMCP is a very large public school located in the suburb of College Park.

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#18

George Washington University

Washington, DC

George Washington University came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Economics Schools ranking. GWU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.

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The University of Texas at Austin came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Economics Schools ranking. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Economics at The University of Texas at Austin Report

#20

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

Boston College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for economics students. It came in at #20 on the list. Boston College is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chestnut Hill.

Full Economics at Boston College Report

University of California - Santa Cruz came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Economics Schools ranking. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Santa Cruz.

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#22

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

Northeastern University ranked #22 on this year’s Most Popular Economics Schools list. Northeastern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Boston.

Read full report on Economics at Northeastern University

#23

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Vanderbilt University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for economics students. It came in at #23 on the list. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full Economics at Vanderbilt University Report

#24

Yale University

New Haven, CT

With a ranking of #24, Yale University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for economics students. Located in the medium-sized city of New Haven, Yale is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full Economics at Yale University Report

#25

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Purdue University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for economics students. It came in at #25 on the list. Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Economics at Purdue University - Main Campus Report

#27

American University

Washington, DC
#28

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
#28

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL
#28

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY
#32

Binghamton University

Vestal, NY
#34

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ
#34

The Graduate Center, CUNY

New York, NY
#37

University of Houston

Houston, TX

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional popular schools for Economics students that almost earned our Most Popular Economics Schools award.

Rank College Location
39 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA
39 University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA
41 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH
41 Georgia State University Atlanta, GA
43 University of Delaware Newark, DE
43 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC
45 University of Oregon Eugene, OR
45 University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, MO
47 University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA
47 Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus Atlanta, GA
47 Fordham University Bronx, NY

Economics by Region

View the Most Popular Economics Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Economics is one of 12 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Economics

Related Major Annual Graduates
International Relations & National Security 5,010
Political Science & Government 2,664
Geography & Cartography 2,315
Sociology 1,907
Anthropology 1,446

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 26 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to pixabay.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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