The Master of Arts in Economic Policy Analysis
The Economic Policy Analysis MA program is a joint program, offered by
the Departments of Economics and Public Policy. The M.A. in Economic
Policy Analysis provides students with a broad perspective
on policy formulation along with focused training in economic
analysis.
The program places special emphasis on the tools of data
analysis commonly used by economists. In today's economy, professionals
in government and business have
access to massive amounts of information and data. To use this
information to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
government policies and business projects, professionals must know
how to organize and analyze it. The Economic Policy Analysis curriculum provides
up-to-date techniques to draw practical lessons from data to contribute to the
effective implementation of policy. The course of study combines a
multi-disciplinary approach to policy analysis with focused study on the
use of economic tools to analyze policy issues. The core economic
courses present the tools commonly used by economists, including economic modeling,
econometrics, cost-benefit analysis, and forecasting. The interdisciplinary nature
of the program provides students with a broad perspective on policy formulation
along with focused training in economic analysis and the use of
quantitative tools.
The Baltimore-Washington area has a high concentration of professional
policy analysts seeking to make effective use of the increasing amount of
data available to them. The location of UMBC, less than a ten-minute
drive from the headquarters of the Social Security Amdinistration and the
Health Care Financing Administration, and close to the state a national
capitals, make the M.A. in Economic Policy Analysis particularly
attractive as a part-time program to mid-level professional policy
analysts. For the M.A. program, all of the core courses and many of the
elective courses are offered in the evenings to provide affordable upper
division and graduate opportunitites for employed adults in the
Baltimore-Washington region. Mid-level professionals can participate in
the program as part-time students. Our program is the only M.A. in the
state of Maryland that provides the opportunity for policy analysts to
study the quantitative tools used by economists. In addition,
UMBC's proximity to the professional programs at the University of Maryland,
Baltimore allows students in ECPA to take policy-related courses at UMB and
students in the graduate and professional programs on that
campus to take advantage of applied economics and policy courses relevant
to their field of study.
The skills required of entry-level workers in the public and private
sectors are also becoming more complex. This is especially true of jobs
in areas such as economics and policy analysis because of advances in
computer software and the availability of data. Students recently
graduated with bachelor's degrees can enter our M.A. program to gain the
necessary skills to apply for higher level skilled and technical
entry-level policy analysis jobs.
Up-to-date quantitative skills are especially important for those
seeking employment or advancement in the public sector. Numerous and
exciting job opportunities are available, but only for those who prepare well
for an increasingly competitive, professional and technical public sector."
Students
The M.A. in Economic Policy Analysis is designed for students
from a variety of backgrounds who share an interest in learning
quantitative techniques to analyze issues
of public policy. The M.A. is flexible enough to accommodate students
with different backgrounds, interests and career objectives. The
program is appropriate for
students with a variety of undergraduate majors. Incoming ECPA students
have majored in economics, financial economics,
political science, information systems, mathematics, computer
science, business, and engineering.
Potential students in the program include:
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Managers and policy analysts who are already employed in policy
formulation
who would like to deepen their understanding of policy issues and/or
develop
their quantitative skills.
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Students who would like to pursue graduate study to prepare for
entry-level
positions in the economic policy field with international organizations,
federal, state or local governments, consulting firms, corporations, or
non-profit organizations. An attractive and cost-effective option
for UMBC undergraduates may be the "accelerated pathway," under which a
student is able to take graduate courses as an undergraduate, reducing
tuition charges and allowing students to complete both a BA and an MA in
as few as five years.
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Students who would like to prepare for further graduate study at the PhD
level in Economics or Public Policy. An attractive option may be
to continue at UMBC for a Ph.D.
in Public Policy. A student with an M.A. in Economic Policy
Analysis
will have already completed a substantial amount of the course work
required for the Public Policy Ph.D.
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Foreign students, particularly those from developing countries and
transitional economies who want to obtain skill in economic policy
analysis.
Full- or part-time students, students with schedules which include only
evening courses, or
students with schedules which combine evening and day courses, can
all be
accommodated. All required courses and many electives are offered in the evening
to accommodate the needs of students employed
full-time.
