The University of Maryland’s Department of Economics has trained countless economists who are now working in the D.C. area and around the globe. Students in our STEM-designated Master of Science degree program benefit immediately from opportunities to network with our faculty and with their fellow students. We maintain working relationships with dozens of employers who recruit our students and alumni. We also partner with the University of Maryland’s Career Center to organize career placement events.
Many of our M.S. in Applied Economics students are already working when they begin our program. Often it is their employer who sends a student our way and pays at least part of the tuition. In other cases, our students are looking to transition into economic analysis from a different career path or to get their foot in the door for their first “real” job after college. Just being enrolled in our program sends a very strong signal to potential employers, which helps our students earn jobs, raises, and promotions – even before they graduate.
More than 90% of our program’s graduates are working in the field within 3 months after their graduation.
- Abt Associates
- Bank of Ningbo (Shenhen, China)
- Berkely Research Group
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- Capital One
- Deloitte Consulting
- Electric Power Research Institute
- Ernst & Young
- Exelon
- FTI Consulting
- Garner, Inc.
- Grant Thornton
- HDR Engineering
- Insight Policy Research
- Institute for Defense Analyses
- Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)
- Intercontinental Exchange
- Jack Faucett Associates
- KPMG Consulting
- Mathematic Policy Research
- Motley Fool
- National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
- Optimal Solutions Group
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
- Rand Corporation
- Rang Technologies
- Raven Capital
- Securities Litigation and Consulting Group (SLCG)
- Summit Consulting
- Transportation Economics and Management Systems
- Wells Fargo
- Westat
- US Departments of: Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Health & Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, and Treasury
- Central Bank of the Bahamas
- Central Bank of Costa Rica
- Central Bank of Namibia
- Embassy of Argentina
- Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation
- National Bank of Bulgaria
- US Army
- US Bureau of Economic Analysis
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics
- US Census Bureau
- US Coast Guard
- US Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- National Science Foundation
- US Federal Trade Commission
- US Federal Reserve Board of Governors
- US House of Representatives
- US International Trade Commission
- US National Institutes of Health
- US Navy
- US Office of Management & Budget
- US Senate
- American Institutes for Research
- Catholic Relief Service
- Electric Power Research Institute
- Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
- Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
- Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)
- Institute of International Finance (IIF)
- International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- National Association of Home Builders
- Rand Corporation
- Regional Economic Studies Institute
- Resources for the Future
- Results for Development
- Roosevelt Institute
- Social Security Advisory Board
- US African Development Fund
- World Bank
Placement FAQ
When comparing our program with other programs, keep in mind that we describe the salaries earned by students and recent graduates of our program, rather than the average salary for all economists in the entire US economy!
We do not systematically ask all our graduates to tell us their salaries. But many of our graduates take jobs with US Government agencies like the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or the Treasury Department, for example. Usually, salaries in such agencies are on the publicly posted GS Payscale.
Before completing our degree, students with some previous work experience often get paid at the GS-9 level (up to $63,000) when they work at a US Government agency. Depending on experience, some of our students have been promoted to the GS-11 level (up to $77,000) even before completing our degree. Recent graduates have been offered GS-11 or GS-13 salaries (up to $110,000).
Salaries for our recent graduates hired by the IMF and World Bank start around $90,000 but have been as high as $130,000 for graduates who also had significant prior experience. Here, one must also keep in mind that salaries at international organizations like the IMF and World Bank are not always taxed by the US government.
Students and graduates of our program who work at private firms (Deloitte, Charles River Associates, Sage Analysis Group, KPMG, Nathan Associates) typically earn higher salaries than they could earn in the public sector, though they also typically work longer hours.
There are restrictions on legal employment opportunities for international students in the US on F-1 student visas. Students on F-1 visas are generally allowed to work at internships during the summer and their second year in our program. The evening classes in our program facilitate the scheduling of internships during the day. International students are also able to travel in the United States or back to their home country during the summer and winter breaks.
International students with an F-1 visa can apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT). Graduates of our STEM-designated M.S. degree program are eligible for a 2-year extension to the usual 1-year OPT eligibility – for a total of 3 years of OPT after graduation. We cannot guarantee an OPT placement for every graduate, but we do have well-established relationships with many Washington, D.C. area employers, and we will help students interested in seeking internships. You can see some examples of the work that previous graduates have found on our Alumni Profiles page.
Our program has established a partnership with the National Association for Business Economics (NABE).
The NABE is a professional organization for people who apply economics in business settings. The NABE offers a Certified Business Economist (CBE) credential for professional economists. Economists can take CBE prep courses from the NABE to prepare for their CBE exam. The NABE also partners with academic programs that offer relevant curricula.
The NABE’s academic partners now include our program!
Students who have completed certain courses in our program’s curriculum are now able to take the NABE’s CBE exam without taking NABE’s courses, and with a discounted exam fee.
We encourage our students to become members of the NABE and to participate in the many excellent events that they sponsor in the Washington, D.C. area. Graduates who also earn the CBE certification in addition to their master’s degree have even more advantages in the job market.
Our program hosts career placement events every fall and every spring. We co-host the events with our department’s undergraduate programs in cooperation with the University of Maryland’s Career Center.
Participating employers at previous events have included:
Bipartisan Policy Center; Econometrica, Inc.; Fannie Mae; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Federal Housing Finance Agency; Federal Reserve Board of Governors; Northwestern Mutual; Office of Inspector General, Office of Evaluation and Inspections; Optimal Solutions Group; Resolution Economics; Summit Consulting; The Urban Institute; US Bureau of the Census; US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; US Department of the Treasury; US Securities and Exchange Commission; US Department of Homeland Security/FEMA.
We usually hold the events every fall in College Park and every spring in Washington, D.C.