Trends in Undergraduate Economics Degrees, 1997--98

Abstract

A 30 percent decline in the number of bachelor's degrees earned in economics over the three years from 1991-92 to 1994-95 created consternation in numerous American economics departments. Shortly thereafter, Robert Margo and I (1996) cautioned against alarm about this decline, noting that adjustments to previous postwar shocks to economics enrollments had regularly returned the number of economics degrees to approximately 2.2 percent of total degrees. In contrast, Becker (1997) argues that the decline in majors may be related to academic economists persistence in using "chalk and talk" while other disciplines have turned to more appealing teaching methods. Although the number of economics degrees continued to fall in 1995-96, the rate of decline slowed considerably, to about 3 percent that year (Siegfried 1998). In 1996-97, the trend turned upward, and the number of undergraduate economics degrees grew further in 1997-98. New results from a sample of 120 colleges and universities show a 10 percent rise in the number of undergraduate economics degrees awarded from the trough year of 1995-96 to 1997-98 (Tables 1 and 2). Although a recovery in undergraduate economics degrees undoubtedly is underway, there remains a long way to go (an additional 31 percent rise is required) to recover to 1991-92 levels. Furthermore, the overall trend masks huge differences among types of institutions. In 1997-98, undergraduate economics degrees at private economics Ph.D.-granting universities actually attained their peak level for the 1990s. Two successive years of double-digit increases easily compensated for the modest losses suffered by this group from 1991-92 to 1994-95. Economics degrees at exclusively undergraduate private colleges and universities are down 16 percent during the 1990s. The largest declines, however, are in the public sector, especially at large public universities with graduate programs