Ph.D . Program

With leading researchers in economic theory, econometrics, international economics, and macroeconomics, the Economics Department at Penn State is an outstanding department (faculty areas of interest may be found here).  Students who receive a Ph.D. from Penn State and whose doctoral research is excellent have been recruited and sought after by leading academic and research institutions: our Ph.D. students have obtained tenure-track positions at the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, MIT, Northwestern University, NYU, UPenn and many more. Our recent placements of students at different universities may be found here.

There are several reasons Penn State has excellent placement, and is a special place to do graduate school. Graduate student training and placement are priorities for the department, and therefore, our faculty members across fields are widely accessible to graduate students. In addition to many elective classes, there are reading groups within each field, with active involvement from students and faculty. The Department takes very seriously its mission to train the excellent students admitted to our Ph.D. program.

Penn State is located in a pleasant college town setting in the geographic center of Pennsylvania. Although it is in a small town, it is not isolated intellectually. There is an active program of visiting speakers in five separate workshops. In addition, the department hosts conferences across several fields. There is a twice yearly joint Penn State-Cornell conference at which graduate students make about half the presentations. The Department also encourages students to present their work at external conferences, and our students present at Meetings of the Econometric Society and other conferences.

Information on the honors code and the college values statement for graduate students available at:

• College of the Liberal Arts Values Statement
• College of the Liberal Arts Honors Code