Princeton University Department of Economics
The Princeton University Department of Economics is an academic department of Princeton University, an Ivy League institution located in Princeton, New Jersey. The department is renowned as one of the premier programs worldwide for the study of economics. The university offers undergraduate A.B. degrees, as well as graduate degrees at the Ph.D. level. It is often considered one of the "big five" schools in the field, along with the faculties at the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Stanford University, and MIT.[3] According to the 2023-2024 U.S. News & World Report, its graduate department is ranked as the joint No. 4 in the field of economics, in a four-way tie between it, the University of Chicago, Yale University, and the University of California, Berkeley.[4]
Type
1913
65 full-time faculty members[1]
Approximately 300+ undergraduate students and 141 graduate students[2]
The department is centered at the Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building & Louis A. Simpson International Building, formerly 20 Washington Road, which also houses the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, the Bendheim Center for Finance, the Center for Health and Wellbeing, and the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance.[5] It is also home to the Industrial Relations Library.
History[edit]
Since the university's founding in 1746, many courses in the social sciences, including history and politics, were taught in the department of Jurisprudence and Political Economy. Coursework specifically in political economy became available in 1819. When Woodrow Wilson became a professor in 1890, additional courses were added to the curriculum, including the History of Political Economy. By 1913, the department became independent from history and politics, forming the Department of Economics and Social Institutions.[6]
The undergraduate program is one of the most prestigious programs for the study of economics in the country and in the world. Economics is the most popular concentration (Princeton's version of an academic major) at the undergraduate level.[7] Because the university does not have a business school, the economics concentration attracts many students who are interested in careers in investment banking, management consulting, finance, technology, and more.[8] The curriculum itself is theoretical in nature, requiring students complete quantitative courses up to multivariate calculus.[9] In partnership with the Bendheim Center for Finance, the department also offers an Undergraduate Finance Certificate.[10]
The graduate program in economics trains Ph.D. students for careers in academia, government, and industry. It receives approximately 800 applications for a class of 20 to 25 students who come from over 30 different countries around the world.[11] The program has numerous fields of specialization and has been particularly strong in the areas of Macroeconomics, Industrial Relations, and International Finance.[12][13] Graduate students who pursue academic careers have historically had placement records at some of the world's leading universities including Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Cornell.[14]
The department also oversees a number of centers and initiatives, including:[15]
Rankings[edit]
National Rankings[edit]
The 2023-2024 U.S. News & World Report places its graduate department as No. 4 nationwide in the field of Economics, tied there with the University of Chicago, Yale University, and the University of California, Berkeley.[16] The National Research Council's rankings place the university at No. 2 in the S-Rank (Scholars Rank) and No. 2 in the Research Rank.[17]
International Rankings[edit]
In the 2018 Q.S. World University Rankings, the department places as No. 3 in the world in the fields of Economics and Econometrics.[18] The 2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranks the department as No. 7 globally.[19] It has been ranked by RePEc among the top ten economics Departments in the world.[20]
Notable faculty[edit]
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences[edit]
Among the department's past and current faculty members are several recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences:[21]
Other notably past and present faculty members include: