economics masters online learning

June 11, 2009 6:00 PM

Do you know any accredited post graduate program in economics that is offered completely online? I am finishing my undergraduate through distance learning and am very interested in economics. I would like to get my MA but due to my work/life schedule attending at a campus is not feasible. I have been unable to find any, but am optimistic that the filter can help me out. Thanks for your time.
posted by gibbsjd77 to education (2 comments total)

I can't help you find one, but I would say that there's a reason it's hard to do so. Real academic research, especially in a field like economics, is highly collaborative. So to adequately prepare yourself for a collaborative career in an entirely self-determined way is perhaps counterproductive. I would submit to you that if you really want to pursue postgraduate study in economics, then it should be worth it to you to make it feasible in your life. If it's not that important to you, then you may not have the commitment required.
posted by HotPants at 10:58 PM on June 11

Sure, I know of a few programmes that are totally online and fully accredited. There may be more as this is based on personal / professional experience.

The University of North Dakotka offers an online MS in Applied Economics [ .pdf ].

Alternatively, Northcentral University offers an MBA that you can focus in economics via their International Business Specialisation.

Finally, Oxford's online division offers short courses in Economics. Not sure about costing for non EU applicants (assuming you're not based in the EU; no location data in your profile), but that's a secondary issue to your original question.

Its worth noting that I only know about these programmes as I teach econometrics at the Masters level part time here in London (I'm a banker by profession); sometimes these degrees come to our attention while vetting prospective students. We have admitted students to our research programme based who have one of these online qualifications and they've done fine, so I'd suggest the opinion upthread is unnecessarily negative.

If you're interested in the subject and can't swing the time IRL then I'd encourage you to go for it. They key criteria to success are motivation and interest in the material, but from your question it seems you already know that.

Best of luck!
posted by Mutant at 11:15 PM on June 11