General Information

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Admissions Information

Admissions Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree
• GPA 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in Bachelor's Degree Program or Master's Program
• GRE
• 3 Letters of Recommendation PDF format
• Statement of Purpose PDF format
• CV or Resume  PDF format

 

Standardized Tests

Required test(s):
Effective Fall 2023, GRE is optional for AREC MS: AMP, AEDA & AEPA.

GRE 
Recommended Minimum GRE Quantitative score of 70th percentile or higher.

International students (of non-English speaking countries):  See the University's Acceptable English Proficiency credentials here
Minimum TOEFL (Paper-based) Score: 550
Minimum TOEFL (Internet-based) Score: 80
Minimum IELTS (overall band score): 7

 

Funding Opportunities

Graduate assistantships

A majority of students in the M.S. program receive financial assistance, usually in the form of research and teaching assistantships. In view of the reasonable cost of living in Tucson, the real income offered by these stipends is relatively high and covers basic costs of living. The assistantships also carry waivers of out-of-state tuition and health insurance (exclusive of dental and vision).  All applicants that submit a completed admission application as of the annual priority deadline (Feb. 1) are reviewed for possible assistantships on a competitive basis.

Tuition waivers

A small number of in-state tuition waivers are available to students with a GPA above 3.4.

Scholarships

Several scholarships are available for academically qualified students. Frequently, a student not awarded an assistantship may be employed by the Department to aid in research work. Students who do not receive assistantships may also hold part-time jobs in other departments or jobs outside the University.

 

Admissions Deadlines

Domestic applicants:

• Fall: Annual priority deadline for application submission for all applicants is February 1, applications are accepted after this date but for those seeking graduate assistantships, February 1st is the recommended deadline.  Due to the competitive nature of graduate assistantships, applications received after the priority deadline may not be eligible for a graduate assistantship or other departmental funding.  There is not a separate application for departmental funding and graduate assistantships.

• Spring: Atypical for students to begin in Spring semesters.  Contact department for more information.

International applicants:

• Fall: Annual priority deadline for application submission is February 1, applications are accepted after this date but for those seeking graduate assistantships February 1st is the recommended deadline.  Due to the competitive nature of graduate assistantships, applications received after the priority deadline may not be eligible for a graduate assistantship or other departmental funding.  There is not a separate application for departmental funding and graduate assistantships.  For Visa reasons, the firm deadline for international application submission is May 15th each year for Fall admission.
• Spring: Atypical for students to begin in Spring semesters.  Contact department for more information. 

 

International Conditional Admission

International applicants may be considered for conditional admission to this program at the department's discretion.

Other Information

The GRE Institution Code for The University of Arizona is 4832

Completion Requirements

Minimum Credit Units

30 

Core Coursework Requirements

General program requirements
AREC MS depending on the program selected, AEDA or AEPA, requires three or four semesters of coursework. Students complete a 15-credit core requirement including two courses in economic theory and two courses in econometrics. All M.S. students are required to take an intensive three-week review course in mathematics (AREC 580) before the start of the fall semester (July-August).  Each semester in which the degree is in progress, students are required to enroll in AREC 596A, the program's seminar course.  This course is 1 unit and will be completed 4 times for a total of 4 seminar units for those seeking AEPA and 3 times for 3 total units for those seeking AEDA.

Students may select remaining coursework according to their interests. To add depth to their program, students are encouraged (but not required) to focus their efforts in an area of specialization. Students choose specific courses in consultation with their advisor or Director of Graduate Studies.

Thesis and examinations
Students with our Applied Economics and Policy Analysis (AEPA) program will complete a thesis, students in the Applied Econometrics and Data Analytics (AEDA) program are not required to complete a thesis.  Under AEPA, students write a thesis and take a six thesis units after completing the core courses.  With the second option AEDA, students complete the core course requirements, as well as graduate level electives with the permission of the AREC Director of Graduate Studies.  

All AREC M.S. candidates must pass a final oral examination or a thesis defense, this exam will focus on the student's coursework/projects, and those in AEPA will complete a thesis, for which a thesis defense is required. In the event of failure, students may repeat the oral examination/defense once.

Grade requirements
Students are required to earn a 3.0 (B) grade or better in each of their core courses and a 3.0 (B) average GPA in all graduate coursework. Students failing to maintain a 3.0 grade average will be placed on academic probation and possibly dropped from the program.  If this occurs, the student must petition the Graduate Advisory Committee for permission to re-enter the program.

Core courses

AREC 504 Production Economics (3 units)
AREC 513 Consumption Economics & Price Analysis (3 units)
AREC 548 Introduction to Statistical Methods in Economics (4 units)
AREC 549 Applied Econometric Analysis (3 units)
AREC 580 Math for Economists (2 units)
AREC 559  Advanced Applied Econometrics (4 units) Required for AEDA only
AREC 596A AREC Seminar (taken each semester for 3 units AEDA or 4 units AEPA)

Language requirements

There are no language requirements for this degree.

 

Elective Coursework

Any courses not required core courses may be elective course options in this Master's program, relevant courses outside of the below list may be elective options as well, with approval from the Department prior to enrolling in them.  Each course listed is 3 units unless otherwise noted.

Fall course offerings:

AREC 512 – Development Economics

AREC 516 – Microeconomics of Agricultural Development

AREC 559 – Advanced Applied Econometrics  (4 units)

AREC 575 – Economics of Water & Environ. Markets & Incentive-based Policies

AREC 910 – Thesis (variable units)

 

Spring semester course offerings:

AREC 550/450 – Financial Management for Agribusiness

AREC 577 – Adv. Topics in Water Resource Economics & Policy

AREC 579/479 – Economic Analysis of Water, Food & Environmental Policies

AREC 910 – Thesis (variable units)

 

Additional Requirements

Selecting one of two concentrations or subplans is required with this degree, depending on the subplan selected by the student a thesis may be required.

 

Applied Econometrics and Data Analytics (AEDA) thesis not required.

OR

Applied Economics and Policy Analysis (AEPA) thesis worth 6 units of credit from AREC 910, is required.

 

Student Handbook

Please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for students who are pursuing this program of study.

 

Program StatisticsInformation about these numbers

Program-level Information
Application Acceptance Rate	80.95%
Avg. Time-to-degree (years)	1.99
Department-level Information
Enrollment Percent Male	38.89%
Enrollment Percent Female	61.11%
Enrollment Percent International	61.11%
Enrollment Percent URM	22.22%

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