Who employs economists?
Companies, governments, non-profits, and international organizations!
The Economics major stresses the analytical and quantitative skills necessary for today's jobs. Employers looking to hire in financial institutions or consulting firms often consider economics to be an extremely attractive major. The Economics department at FIU has placed its majors and minors in banking, government jobs, consulting, financial firms, law schools, business schools, and Ph.D. programs. The American Economics Association describes some of the diverse career opportunities available to graduates with an Economics degree.
Below is a sample of employers for whom students majoring or minoring in economics at FIU have worked following graduation.
- Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Columbia), U.S. Department of Labor, International Monetary Fund, Moody’s, ABN Amro, Banco Atlantico, Bank Atlantic, City of Miami, City of Miami Beach, Government of Anguilla, Government of Colombia, Hamilton Bank, Lehman Brothers, Merill Lynch, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Prudential Securities, SunTrust, U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Villamil Consulting.
Each semester, several firms come to the FIU main campus for the purpose of recruiting graduates. Below is a list of just some of the firms that routinely recruit FIU graduates who have majored in economics.
- Andersen Consulting, Citibank, Ford Motor Credit, General Electric Company, Goldman-Sachs, Marriot International, Nations Bank, Prudential Insurance and Financial Services, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BellSouth Business Systems, Burdines Department Stores, CINTAS Corporation, Home Depot, IBM Corporation, Kraft Foods, Sprint, SunTrust, Target, Walt Disney World.
Finding that first job after college is a stressful time for many students. The Department of Economics strongly encourages all students to register with Career and Talent Development in GC 230
How much will you earn as an Economics major?
Quite a lot!
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook (online in 2022), the median annual wage for economists was $113,940 in May 2022. The highest 10 percent earned more than $207,230and the lowest 10 percent earned less than $62,480.
| Measure | | Salary |
|---|
| Median | = | $113,940 |
| Highest 10 percent | > | $207,230 |
| Lowest 10 Percent | < | $62,480 |
Average Salaries by Major, 2022.
Payscale.com reports its survey of people with Baccalaureate degrees (and no more) who are employed full time, showing mid-career annual earnings. Here are PayScale’s 25 Highest Paying Majors with a Bachelor’s Degree ranking in 2022 based on mid-career annual earnings:
| BA/BSc Degree | Salary |
|---|
| Petroleum Engineering | $187,300 |
| Operations Research & Industrial Engineering | $170,400 |
| Electrical Engineering & Computer Science | $159,300 |
| Interaction Design | $155,800 |
| Public Accounting | $147,700 |
| Operations Research | $147,400 |
| Applied Economics and Management | $146,400 |
| Business Computing (BC) | $143,600 |
| Actuarial Mathematics | $143,400 |
| Electrical Power Engineering | $142,600 |
| Information & Computer Science | $140,900 |
| Aeronautics & Astronautics | $139,600 |
| Systems Engineering | $139,200 |
| Econometrics | $139,000 |
| Pharmacy | $138,700 |
| Aerospace Studies | $136,600 |
| Building Science | $135,900 |
| Chemical Engineering | $135,900 |
| Cognitive Science | $135,200 |
| Actuarial Science | $134,400 |
| Political Economy | $133,500 |
| Computer Systems Engineering | $133,200 |
| Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) | $131,600 |
| Computer Science (CS) & Engineering | $131,300 |
| Marine Engineering | $131,300 |
Going to Law School or Graduate School?
We'll prepare you well!
Nationwide, economics is a popular degree among lawyers. In addition to studying social issues, economics also requires clear and logical thinking. The rigor in economic analysis helps prepare students for law school better than other majors. Students planning to attend law school are encouraged to be an economics major with a political science minor or double major.
- Economics majors have one of the highest average LSAT scores among all majors.
- Economics majors also rank highly in the GMAT and the GRE.
- As evidenced by scores on the GMAT, economics prepares students for MBA programs much better than a finance, an accounting or a business management degree does!
Graduate Test Score Rankings by Major
| | LSAT | (1) | / | GMAT | (2) | / | GRE | (3) |
|---|
| Majors | | Rank | Mean | | Rank | Mean | | Rank | Mean |
|---|
| Mathematics | | 1 | 163 | | 2 | 603 | | 1 | 163 |
| Economics | | 4 | 159 | | 7 | 581 | | 6 | 160 |
| Philosophy | | 13 | 157 | | 5 | 588 | | 16 | 154 |
| History | | 17 | 156 | | 11 | 572 | | 42 | 148 |
| Chemistry | | 18 | 156 | | 13 | 568 | | 9 | 158 |
| Finance | | 23 | 155 | | 20 | 554 | | 4 | 161 |
| Political Science | | 30 | 154 | | 19 | 554 | | 20 | 152 |
| Accounting | | 31 | 153 | | 31 | 518 | | 21 | 152 |
| Psychology | | 32 | 153 | | 27 | 532 | | 32 | 149 |
| Sociology | | 38 | 151 | | 33 | 514 | | 33 | 149 |
| Business Management | | 39 | 150 | | 37 | 502 | | 28 | 151 |
(1) Mean 2017-18 Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score by major. LSAT scores range from 120 to 180.
(2) Mean 2008-12 Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) score by major. GMAT scores range from 200 to 800.
(3) Mean 2013-16 Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) score by intended graduate area of study. GRE Quantitative Reasoning scores ranged in this period from 130 to 170.
Students of economics at FIU have gone on to earn graduate degrees from many different institutions, including some of the most prestigious in the world. Below we list just a few of the graduate programs where our students have been accepted.
- Law Schools: Emory , Fordham , Georgetown , University of Florida, Cornell, University of Miami, Vanderbilt.
- Ph.D. Programs: Cornell , Florida International University, Georgetown , University of North Carolina, London School of Economics.
- MBA Programs: Florida International University, University of Florida.
