Economics
About Economics
Our Program and Courses
By the time you graduate, you will have received a broad understanding of:
- Economic theories and practices
- Society’s social relations of production, distribution and consumption
- Economic models for the optimal allocation of resources
- Quantitative tools of analysis used in economics
- Institutions through which humans have organized the provision of goods and services
- Dynamics of markets for goods and services, as well as financial markets
Learning Outside the Classroom
Research Opportunities and Independent Studies
As an economics student, you’ll have ample opportunities to engage in independent or faculty-led research that can lead to departmental honors and publications in leading economic journals. Economics faculty are expert researchers on a wide array of topics, including: environmental policy and sustainable agriculture; banking and monetary policy; economic development; statistical and econometric analysis; trade; global finance; economic postcolonial theory; labor market outcomes for sexual minorities; behavioral economics; gender and economics; and more.Explore research at F&M
Internships for Credit
Internships allow you to get hands-on experience now and gain a competitive advantage in the job market later. You can even earn a credit toward your degree while adding these experiences to your resume.Explore internships at F&M
Off-Campus Study
F&M students have exciting opportunities to extend their F&M experience off campus. F&M students have studied abroad in Australia, China, England, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Tanzania, and more.Explore off-campus study at F&M
Economics Club
Clubs and organizations offer additional ways to get involved in your field of study while supplementing your academic experience. The economics club at F&M partners with the economics department to further your engagement with the discipline.Success Beyond F&M
Graduating with a liberal arts degree in economics opens a world of opportunities. Whether you plan to attend graduate school or begin your chosen career immediately after earning your degree, you will be prepared to excel in your post-college pursuit.
Graduate School
Many of our economic graduates go on to pursue advanced degrees in economics, law, business, policymaking, international relations, or medicine. They enter programs at the best universities in the U.S. and abroad, including:- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- Harvard University
- Oxford University
- Yale University
Career Paths
Career outcomes for economics graduates are diverse. Many embark on successful careers in education, business, banking, government, and law. Our alumni have held positions such as:- Attorney
- Business Analyst
- Chief Executive Officer
- Chief Financial Officer
- Consultant
- Credit Analyst
- Economist
- Equity Analyst
- Financial Analyst
- Fund Analyst
- Insurance Broker
- International Financier
- Paralegal
- Portfolio Manager
- Research Analyst
- Trade Analyst
Student Spotlight
F&M Students Launch Global Nutrition Nonprofit
F&M’s global community brought together Jordan Samuels ’26, an economics major from Cape Town, South Africa, and Lyla Loria ’26, a public health major from Pound Ridge, N.Y., to tackle the issue of food access in South African schools. The two are the co-founders of Fuel for Thought, a nonprofit that provides meals and educational resources to students in South Africa through partnerships with local communities, schools and organizations.The first seeds of the idea were planted when Samuels was a student at Ubuntu Football Academy School in Cape Town, which would eventually become Fuel for Thought’s first partner school. Samuels and Loria traveled to South Africa in May to visit Fuel for Thought’s partner schools, and said they are already seeing the immediate impact of their work. Both students credited F&M’s liberal arts education for giving them the skills, resilience and innovative thinking they needed to navigate the process of setting up a nonprofit.
“Having that sort of education helped Lyla and me roll with the punches, because there were a lot of things we didn’t know,” Samuels said. “We really grew with the organization. To this day, we don’t have it all figured out, but we’re learning. We’re really proud of how far we’ve come.”
Read More »
Student Spotlight
Students Host Campus Economics Discussion
At F&M, your ideas may start in the classroom, but they won't be contained there. You’ll find extraordinary opportunities to own your influence and make real change — just like economics majors Shubham Jha ’26 and Ritesh K.C. ’26 who proposed and led an all-campus discussion titled, “A Conquest to Solve Poverty From the Branches: Journey of Two F&M Students Who Tried Understanding and Eliminating Poverty in Nepal.”Alumni Spotlight
“F&M was the perfect place for me to grow both intellectually and personally.”
Evann Tan '25, a double major in economics and business, organizations & society, said he chose F&M because of its strong emphasis on close student-faculty relationships.“The small class sizes and the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions with professors and peers made F&M the perfect place for me to grow both intellectually and personally,” he said. “The relationships I built—with both my professors and my peers—have been the most meaningful part of my time at F&M.”
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This initiative provides an intellectual and communal framework that promotes critical
multidisciplinary research, dialogue, and action on issues of inequality and social
justice as they manifest in Lancaster and other cities and regions worldwide. The
IPPSOJ emphasizes a collaborative relationship with Lancaster communities to explore
how dynamics of power generate and reinforce economic and social exclusion, poverty,
and inequality. We organize activities through the curriculum, student-faculty research,
and a public forum. Do you imagine yourself in management, marketing, accounting, or finance after graduating
from college? Study Business, Organizations & Society at F&M and learn to think critically
and lead effectively in a variety of environments, from small businesses to large
corporations and from for-profit to nonprofit. This certificate enables you to engage and evaluate legal discourse and argument as
informed citizens. Drawing upon exploration of legal doctrines, reasoning, and policies
in both public and private law, you will critically examine legal controversies from
literary, economic, philosophic, and cultural perspectives. The study of mathematics is ancient, and its roots in clear and creative thought can
still be seen today. While studying mathematics at F&M, you will learn both the fundamental
foundations and theories of the field as well as how to apply these theories to real-life
problems.Inequality, Poverty, Power, and Social Justice (IPPSOJ)
Related Fields of Study
Business, Organizations & Society
Legal Studies (Certificate)
Mathematics
F&M Economics in Action
July 24, 2025
Field Research Leads F&M Grad to Hawaiian Wildlife Refuge
Owen Sobel ’24 swapped soccer cleats for hiking boots to pursue a rewarding career in environmental field research and conservation. A former Diplomat midfielder, Sobel is now a U.S. Fish & Wildlife biological technician at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
July 18, 2025
F&M Students Launch Global Nutrition Nonprofit
F&M's global community of students brought together Jordan Samuels and Lyla Loria, co-founders of Fuel for Thought, a nonprofit that provides meals and educational resources to students in South Africa.
July 3, 2025
Young Alumni Share Law School Journeys
Robert Suite ’17 and Matthew Thomas ’19 first met at F&M. Their post-graduate paths led them both to Drexel School of Law. Follow their story of friendship and mentorship.