Declare Economics

Ready to get started? Follow the steps below to start your college career at Western's College of Business and Economics.

1. Apply for Admission to Western

All College of Business and Economics Students must be admitted to Western before they can become a CBE Major. Incoming freshmen looking to start fall quarter need to make sure to apply by January 31. To learn more visit the Western Admissions Office.

2. Complete General University Requirements (GUR)

As part of the general university required courses, you are encouraged to take several courses that will count toward your College of Business and Economics coursework that also fulfill GUR requirements. This can shorten your time to graduation by at least a quarter. Some GURs can be waived with AP credits that were earned in high school or transfer credits. Be sure to contact the Academic Advising and Student Achievement Center (AASAC) to discuss individual situations.

3. Declaring an Economics Major

Students must have achieved a 2.50 cumulative college GPA (including transfer work) to declare a major in economics. Completion of the CBE foundation courses is not required to declare a major in economics, except for the economics-accounting combined major.

Students planning to major in economics should declare their major as early as possible, preferably during their first year at Western. Early declaration is costless and in no way restricts the student’s options for changing plans later, but it provides many benefits. Advantages include faculty advising for help in program planning, registration priority for certain upper-division courses, access to computer facilities, and protection against possible future catalog revisions that change degree requirements. Declared majors also are eligible for the departmental scholarships and other departmental awards. Transfer students should contact the department prior to registering to be certain that they enter the course sequence correctly with the appropriate course equivalents from other institutions.

1. Complete the CBE Major Declaration Form and select your choice of the Economics major from the drop-down menu. You will need to provide current unofficial, electronic copies of all college transcripts if Western does not have the most recent versions. (To attach the transcript(s): copy and paste each transcript from the electronic form, then save it as a Word Document or print to PDF and attach.) The application form will be forwarded to the Department of Economics for review.
2.  After review of your application (and you have met the GPA requirement) you will be contacted by the Department Manager for some additional information. You will get a faculty advisor and a brief check-in meeting with the Department Chair.
3. You will also want to meet with your faculty advisor for assistance in planning your schedule. Another helpful tool is the DegreeWorks evaluation tool which can be found through MyWestern.
4. Students wishing to declare one of the combined majors must meet the major declaration requirements of the other department(s).

4. Contact Your Advisor and Complete Your Plan of Study

Once you've declared the major of your choice, you will be assigned an advisor. Plan to contact them right away, do not wait for them to contact you. They will help you plan your coursework to maximize your time as a Department of Economics major. For more information including downloadable plans of study see Current Economics Majors.