Our department offers an integrated Bachelor of Science-Applied Economics and Master of Science-Applied Economics, and an integrated Bachelor of Science-Agricultural Food and Business Management and Master of Science-Applied Economics. These programs offer students the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in five years! Programs range from a Plan A option which balances coursework and research development, to a Plan B option that focuses more on coursework.
Students accepted to an integrated program will be guaranteed admission to the M.S. as long as they complete their undergraduate program. Accepted students will not need to take the GRE exam as part of their graduate application, unlike other students applying to the masters program.
Benefits
Integrated Degree Programs offer several benefits: streamlined admission from the undergraduate program to the graduate program, flexibility in concurrently enrolling in undergraduate-level and graduate-level courses in their senior year (at least 9 graduate level credits can be transferred to the graduate program); and eligibility for teaching and research assistantships.
Admission
Application to the Integrated Degree Program is open to APEC and AFBM undergraduates who:
- Have 90 credits completed or in progress
- Have the ability to complete at least 9 graduate-level credits during their senior year in addition to their remaining bachelor’s degree requirements, and
- Hold a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
- The following prerequisite courses must be completed by the end of the Spring semester of their Junior Year with a minimum grade of a C: APEC 3001 or ECON 3101, BA 2551 or STAT 3011, and MATH 1142 or [MATH 1271 and MATH 1272] or [MATH 1371 and MATH 1372].
For the online graduate school application, you will need the following items:
- Statement of Purpose (500-word limit): Please describe your research and career interests and clearly state you are applying for the IDP.
- Diversity Statement (500-word limit): The Applied Economics Graduate Program and the University of Minnesota embrace the principle that diversity promotes excellence. Diversity, broadly defined, comes from many sources: backgrounds, identities, life experiences, abilities, and intellectual orientation. Our goal is to promote academic excellence supported by respect for others and enhanced by cultural and intellectual diversity in our workplace, classrooms, and research. Please share how you might contribute to and/or benefit from diversity in our community of scholars.
- Resume
- Unofficial transcripts
- Three letters of recommendation, of which one letter is from an APEC faculty member who has agreed to be your graduate faculty advisor during your M.S. program
Full application instructions and the link to apply are found here.
Degree Progress
Students admitted to the Integrated Degree Program will complete and be awarded an undergraduate degree within 4 years for New High School (NHS) and 3 years for New Admitted (NAS) students, upon meeting the requirements for their undergraduate degree.
Students will complete a minimum of two semesters as a graduate student and a minimum of 30 graduate credit hours before completing the master’s program requirements.
You need a minimum of 30 graduate credit hours to complete your M.S. degree. You may choose to complete (A) a thesis while taking APEC 8777 (10 cr.) or (B) a Plan B project while taking APEC 8793 (4-6 cr.)
The B.S. and M.S. degrees must be completed in their entirety, with no courses shared between them. The graduate degree cannot be earned before the undergraduate requirements are satisfied. Admitted students who decide not to complete the M.S. degree are permitted to count credits originally planned for the graduate program toward their B.S. technical electives.
- Example 5 year course plan for B.S.APEC/M.S.APEC (PDF)
- Example 5 year course plan for B.S.AFBM/M.S.APEC (PDF)
Suggested Electives
A list of suggested electives include but are not limited to:
- APEC 5321 (3 cr.) Regional Economic Analysis
- APEC 5411 (3 cr.) Commodity Marketing (no credit if credit was received for APEC 3411)
- APEC 5451 (3 cr.) Food Marketing Economics (no credit if credit was received for APEC 4451W)
- APEC 5481 (3 cr.) Futures and Options Markets (no credit if credit was received for APEC 3481)
- APEC 5711 (3 cr.) U.S. Agricultural and Environmental Policy
- APEC 5751 (3 cr.) Global Trade and Policy
- APEC 5821 (3 cr.) Business Economics and Strategy
- APEC 5831 (2 cr.) Food and Agribusiness Marketplace
- APEC 5841 (3 cr.) Agricultural Cooperatives and Mutuals
- APEC 5990 Special Topics in Applied Economics
- APS 5103 (3 cr) Integration of Sustainable Ag Concepts
- ECON 5890 (3 cr.) Economics of the Health-Care System
- FSCN 5131 (3 cr) Food Quality for Graduate Credit
- FSCN 8318 (2 cr) Current Issues in Food Science
- MKTG 6090 (2 cr) Food Fight: Contemporary Challenges in Ag
- PA 5035 (1.5 cr.) Survey Research and Data Collection
- PA 5043 (2 cr.) Economic and Demographic Data Analysis
- PA 5113 (3 cr.) State and Local Public Finance
- PA 5204 (3 cr.) Urban Spatial and Social Dynamics
- PA 5722 (3 cr.) Economics of Natural Resource and Environmental Policy
- PUBH 6034 (3 cr.) Evaluation
- PUBH 6154 (3 cr.) Climate Change and Global Health
- PUBH 6832 (3 cr.) Economics of the Health Care System
- STAT 5021 (4 cr.) Statistical Analysis (no credit if credit was received for STAT 3011)
- STAT 5201 (3 cr.) Sampling Methodology in Finite Populations
More Information
- Find requirements for the AFBM undergraduate major in the University Catalog. To see an individualized Sample Plan of what the undergraduate portion of your Integrated Degree Program could look like, click on the “Integrated BS-AFBM/MS-APEC Sample Plan” link under the "view sample plan(s)" section on the right side of the page.
- Find requirements for the APEC undergraduate major in the University Catalog. To see an individualized Sample Plan of what the undergraduate portion of your Integrated Degree Program could look like, click on the “Integrated BS-APEC/MS-APEC Sample Plan” link under the "view sample plan(s)" section on the right side of the page.
- Find requirements for the APEC M.S. in the University Catalog.
- For questions about the undergraduate portion of the Integrated Degree Program, please consult with your academic advisor or major coordinator.
- For questions about the Graduate Program, please contact [email protected].