Agricultural and applied economics offers a number of economic areas of study for graduate students to pursue. At the Ph.D. level, students can dive deeper into the fields of applied econometrics, environmental and natural resource economics, international development and trade, food and health economics, and rural and regional development.
The Virginia Tech Economics program was established on September 1, 1961, and since then, it has awarded more than 200 doctoral degrees in economics. From 2000 onwards, the program has taken a new direction - while students still earn a doctorate in Economics, the program is jointly administered by the Department of Economics and the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, giving students access to a variety of courses. The doctoral program in economics prepares students for research and teaching careers and careers in the public and private sectors that require knowledge and understanding of the most advanced economic theory and methods. Our recent graduates are well-placed nationally and internationally in academic institutions, finance and investment industries, and government sectors. Students seeking the Ph.D. must complete 90 total credit hours of work, consisting of 24 credit hours of core requirements, 21 credit hours of field courses, 30 credit hours of research & dissertation, and an additional 15 credit hours of research & dissertation or other Graduate level courses with the permission of the Graduate Director. The Ph.D. program is designed to be completed in 4-5 years, with the first two years focused on coursework and the remaining years on research and completion of the dissertation. Following a set of compulsory core courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics in the first two years, the students take more advanced and specialized field courses in areas like applied microeconomics (health, labor, and development economics), microeconomic theory, experimental and behavioral economics, econometrics, and macroeconomics.
