We are happy to offer an online version of our MS in Applied Economics Program. Not all online programs are the same. Our online program does have one in-person requirement: proctored in-person exams in the first 4 core courses. All our online courses have weekly synchronous class meetings (not asynchronous or self-paced). See below for a more detailed discussion of these details.
The online version of our MS in Applied Economics Program can be completed by students almost entirely remotely. Proctored in-person final exams are required in each of the first 4 core courses (ECON 641, 642, 643, and 644). All other requirements in these four courses can be satisfied remotely. All other courses in the program are fully online and do not have any in-person requirements. So students in the online version of our program are required to come to Washington, DC or College Park for the final exams in 4 of the 10 courses they take with us.
Many students take 2 courses per quarter and complete the entire 10-course program in 15 months (5 quarters). Students who take 2 courses per quarter need to come to College Park or Washington, DC for final exams at the end of their first 2 quarters. But there are no more in-person requirements in the final 3 quarters (9 months).
Our MS in Applied Economics Program’s online courses have synchronous online class meetings one evening per week (Washington, DC time zone). While there is some asynchronous online content in all of our courses, students are expected to participate in the weekly synchronous class meetings and to engage with the course instructors and the other students during those meetings. Students seeking fully asynchronous and self-paced instruction should not enroll in our program.
The first four core courses provide the key building blocks for the rest of the program. We want to ensure that students have truly mastered this material before they progress to subsequent courses where the core knowledge will be assumed. We believe the program’s academic integrity requires a significant portion of the grade in these foundational courses to depend on individual student performance in a time-constrained and proctored environment.
Conversations with employers who recruit our students indicate that an emphasis on integrity and core skills can be a valuable selling point for students and graduates on the job market. If our MS in Applied Economics Program’s students and graduates note in their cover letters and job interviews that the student assessments in certain key courses included proctored in-person exams, it will increase employer confidence in the quality of their degree.