UMass Boston

A liberal arts degree with a major in economics is a good preparation for a wide variety of careers.  Many of our graduates go directly into business or the public sector, and many go on to do further study towards graduate degree. 

Here are some examples of positions held by former students in the Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston:

DF is a reporter for the Bloomberg news service where she writes on a great variety of interesting issues.  After various jobs in Japan, where she went to teach English after graduation from UMass Boston, DF returned to the U.S., went to journalism school at Columbia, and then to Bloomberg. 

KB was a joint major in economics and art and combines these interests as Executive Director of the Artists Foundation.  She works on issues of public policy for artists; she is also an exhibiting installation artist.

LW is a Senior International Credit Analyst with the Phelps Dodge Corporation, a large mining company based in Phoenix, Arizona.

EM is Senior Planner in the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development for the City of Somerville.  

MP went to law school after leaving UMass Boston.  He later worked for the Massachusetts Labor Commission and is now the Director of Human Resources at our own university.

DT went to graduate school after receiving her degree in economics, first to our own Masters of Science in Public Affairs Program and then to the Law, Society and Policy Program at Northeastern where she received her PhD  She is now a faculty member at Simmons College with a joint appointment in Women’s Studies and Africana Studies

MM was recently elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

MK was assigned to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) for her senior internship in the Department of Economics.  After graduation, she was hired by the BRA in their research department where she is engaged in a wide variety of projects.

ME is the coordinator of Mathematics for grades K through 8 in Newton, Massachusetts.

DP is a lawyer on the staff at the U.S. Department of Education.

MD is a paralegal at a Boston law firm (planning to go to law school).

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According to a CNN report of a national survey undertaken by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average salaries of graduates in the class of 2005 with a degree in economics looked quite good.  The salaries of economics graduates were not as high as graduates with a degree in engineering, but were above those with a degree in business administration and well above the average for graduates with a liberal arts degree.  Here are some of the figures that CNN reported:

Average Starting Salaries for the Class of 2005: