Director of Graduate Studies: Simon Grant

Altha Rodgers
Coordinator of Graduate Admissions
Department of Economics
Baker Hall - 259
arodgers@rice.edu

The graduate program in economics at Rice University is designed for students wishing to pursue the Ph.D. degree. (An M.A. degree is awarded only to students who complete all the requirements for the Ph.D. except the dissertation.) The course of study equips students with the theoretical and empirical skills necessary to enter research careers in academia, business and government.

Admission to the program is limited to outstanding students who have earned undergraduate degrees in economics or other fields; 6-10 students are admitted each year from an applicant pool of roughly 250. The small size of the program, approximately 45 graduate students working with 21 full-time faculty promotes close faculty-student interaction and collaboration as well as close working relationships among students.

Degree Requirements

Candidates for the doctoral degree will be expected to:

  1. Complete an approved program of at least twenty courses, no more of four which are research workshops. At least two years of full-time study, or the equivalent of sixty semester hours, must be in residence at Rice.
  2. Perform satisfactorily on written general examinations in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics at the end of the first year of study.
  3. Demonstrate proficiency in a major field by completing the relevant courses and performing satisfactorily on a written exam in that field.

    Fields may be chosen from the following areas: Econometrics, Economic Theory, Industrial Organization and Regulation, International Trade and Finance, Labor Economics, Macroeconomics/Monetary Theory, Public Finance, and Development.

  4. Report on the progress toward the choice of dissertation topics.

  5. Complete and defend orally a doctoral dissertation setting forth in publishable form the results of original research.

Admission

Highly motivated individuals with a strong desire to pursue the Ph.D. degree are encouraged to apply to the graduate program. Application for admission can be found at:
http://rgs.rice.edu/Grad/Admissions/Application/GraduateApply.cfm?dept=69

Admission and financial aid decisions are based on:

  1. Scores on the graduate record examinations (GRE) on the verbal, quantitative, and analytical sections.

  2. Transcripts from all colleges and universities attended. Students should have a GPA of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale.

  3. Three letters of recommendation from professors or other advisors.

Important Notes:

  • Applicants whose native language is not English must take the TOEFL test and should score at least 90 on the internet-based (iBT) TOEFL, at least 600 on the paper-based TOEFL or score 250 on the computer-based TOEFL.

  • An application fee of $40 must be submitted with the application.

  • The deadline for requesting admission with financial aid is February 1.

  • The deadline for requesting admission without financial aid is April 1.

  • Students must start the program in the fall semester.

  • Students must have the equivalent of at least two semesters of calculus and one semester of linear algebra before entering the graduate program.

  • Applicants who have not taken these courses at the time they submit their application must outline their plans to satisfy this requirement.

  • Additional courses in calculus beyond the second year level as well as a course in real analysis are strongly recommended.

Applicants should take the GRE and TOEFL exams by December, so that the results are available by the deadline. To make arrangements to take these exams, please correspond with:

Graduate Record Examinations
P.O. Box 6000
Princeton, NJ 08541-6000
http://www.ets.org/greets.html
(Rice University GRE School Code: 6609, Department Code: 1801)

TOEFL/TSE Publications
P.O. Box 6157
Princeton, NJ 08541-6157
http://www.toefl.org/
(Rice University TOEFL Institution Code: 6609, Department Code: 84)

Financial Aid

Graduate fellowships or scholarships are provided to most Ph.D. students. Rice University Fellowships range up to $44,000, inclusive of tuition. (Tuition is $29,960 for the academic year 2008-2009.) Scholarships provide for full or partial tuition waivers.

Placement

Recent graduates have accepted positions at:
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~econ/grad/alumni.html

  • US Joint Committee on Taxation
  • US Treasury Office of Tax Analysis
  • Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
  • Central Intelligence Agency
  • Ernst and Young
  • World Bank
  • International Monetary Fund
  • Inter-American Development Bank
  • IBM Research Division
  • Center for Economic Studies at the Bureau of the Census
  • Department of Justice
  • Federal Reserve Board of Governors
  • Indiana University
  • University of Wyoming
  • University of Texas (Arlington)
  • University of Florida
  • University of Mississippi
  • Tulane University
  • Oberlin College
  • Price Waterhouse Coopers (NY)
  • El Paso Energy
  • Abt Associates
  • Coopers and Lybrand
  • ExxonMobil
  • Deloitte & Touche
  • California Institute of Technology
  • Ceteris Group, Chicago

Foreign placements have included positions at:

  • Korean Institute for Public Finance
  • Korean Research Institute
  • Samsung Research Institute
  • Hanyang University (Korea)
  • University of St. Andrews (Scotland)
  • Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economica (Mexico)
  • Energy Regulatory Commission (Mexico)
  • Banco de Mexico
  • University of Adelaide (Australia)
  • Wissenchaftszentrum Berlin (WZB)
  • University of Singapore
  • Planning Institute of Jamaica
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Graduate Study in Economics at a Glance

Full-time faculty working with students: 21

Students: 46 graduate students

Average Number of Applicants: 250

Number Admitted: 6-10 students each year

Fields of Study: Econometrics, Economic Theory, Industrial Organization and Regulation, International Trade and Finance, Labor Economics, Macroeconomics Monetary Theory, Public Finance.

Degree awarded: Ph.D. (An M.A. degree is awarded only to students who complete all the requirements for the Ph.D. except the dissertation.)

Doctorates awarded between 2000-2007: 37

For Additional Information on Admissions, Contact:

Altha Rodgers
Coordinator of Graduate Admissions
Baker Hall
Department of Economics - MS 22
Rice University
6100 Main Street
Houston, TX 77005
arodgers@rice.edu

Simon Grant
 Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Economics
Baker Hall - 252
sgrant@rice.edu

Facilities

The Department of Economics is housed in Baker Hall, the newly constructed home of the James A. Baker, III Institute for Public Policy. Graduate students are usually provided office space in the building upon completion of their first year of study.

Fondren Library houses a collection of 1.5 million volumes, 2.5 million microforms, 14,000 current periodicals and other serial titles, and many electronic resources. Planning for an expansion of Fondren Library facilities is underway, with occupation of a much enlarged library anticipated in five years.

Computer resources at Rice University are extensive. There are a number of computer labs across campus - including the Baker Hall Computing Lab, the Social Sciences Computing Lab in Sewall Hall, and the Statistical Computing Lab - that are available to students. These labs provide Wintel, Macintosh, and Sun platforms, complete with the latest software, including Microsoft Office, Scientific Workplace, Matlab, and SAS. Access is also available to a number of powerful mainframes both on and off-campus, including supercomputers at national supercomputer centers and the Houston Area Research Council (HARC).

Opportunities for Collaboration

Graduate students are welcomed as collaborators in the research agenda of the Baker Institute for Public Policy. Economics department faculty and graduate students are currently participating in research projects examining issues in energy and environmental economics and U.S. tax reform.

Rice University and the University of Houston jointly sponsor workshops in econometrics, macroeconomics, and microeconomics. (The University of Houston is located about three miles from Rice and its Economics Department has twenty-seven faculty members). Each workshop meets about ten times each semester and brings a large number of distinguished scholars to campus. Attendance at these workshops enables students to learn about the current state of the art in a wide variety of topics in economics and helps them in getting started on their own research careers.

Teaching Experience

The economics graduate program provides classroom experience for most of its students. All students who demonstrate proficiency in working with undergraduates teach a one-semester section of a course in microeconomic or macroeconomic principles in their fourth year of study, and are eligible to teach additional courses in later years. Students who do not meet the proficiency standard are given other assignments.

Campus Visits

Applicants are encouraged to visit Rice at any time to obtain a first-hand look at the department as well as our beautiful tree-lined campus, located near the heart of historic downtown Houston. A select number of applicants are invited to visit the campus at departmental expense. These campus visits, which are hosted by current graduate students, provide the applicant the opportunity to attend graduate classes, discussions with faculty, staff, current graduate students and alumni. The visits also provide the applicant with an excellent opportunity to learn more about graduate life at Rice and lifestyles in Houston.


It is the policy of Rice University to attract qualified individuals of diverse backgrounds to its faculty, staff, and student body. Accordingly, Rice University does not discriminate against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or veteran status in its admissions, its educational programs, employment of faculty or staff. The university takes affirmative action in employment by recruiting, hiring, and advancing women, members of a minority group, Vietnam era veterans, and special disabled veterans.