JD/Masters in Applied Economics and Finance

About the Program

The UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) masters degree is a one-year program that provides analytical graduate training designed to prepare students for careers in business, international and domestic banking, consulting firms, government, and nonprofit organizations. The program combines core training in economic theory with meaningful applications to real-world settings. The program has a more applied orientation than a typical masters program in economics and provides more training in economics, statistics, and econometrics than most MBA programs. The curriculum stresses mastery of core principles in micro and macroeconomics and finance, as well as practical problem-solving. The program exposes students to advanced econometric techniques, statistical software packages (R, Stata, etc.), and large-scale financial and microeconomic datasets. Past graduates of this program have gone on to careers in the private and public sectors with placements at a diverse range of companies and institutions, including Cisco Systems, Seagate Technology, Google, Sony Computer Entertainment, Plantronics, Wells Fargo, Securities and Exchange Commission, all of the big four accounting firms, McKesson Corp., Pepsi Corp., Visa, Square Trade, the California Franchise Tax Board, Guardian News (UK), Blue Cross, the World Bank, Stanford University, and the Bank of Japan.

To concurrently earn the JD from UC Law SF and the masters from UCSC, qualified UC Law SF students must independently be admitted to UC Santa Cruz’s program by no later than the end of their 2L year. Students may access the UCSC website to obtain admissions information and program requirements information. UCSC has agreed to allow eligible students to transfer 10 quarter-equivalent units of UC Law SF classes successfully completed to the masters degree. UC Law SF will allow eligible students to transfer up to a maximum of 12 semester credits of classes taken at UCSC as counting toward the JD degree. It is this credit arrangement that allows participating students to earn the two degrees concurrently in less time than it would take to earn the degrees serially.

Students concurrently pursuing the UC Law SF JD and UCSC masters degrees must meet each degree-conferring institution’s separate requirements for residency, registration, continued enrollment, and a degree. Each student is individually responsible for meeting those requirements, including by obtaining the necessary pre-approvals for credit transfers. In addition, once accepted, to be eligible to continue with the concurrent degree arrangement, UC Law SF students must successfully maintain the minimum required GPA, complete the Request for Approval Form from the Office of the Registrar, and, as noted, receive approval of a study plan from the Associate Academic Dean. Only credits that are pre-approved pursuant to this process may be applied toward the JD, and, then, only if the UC Law SF student successfully completes the UCSC degree requirements. Concurrent degree candidates typically carry a higher-than-usual credit load. In addition, a student’s ability to sit for the bar exam may be delayed until both the JD and the masters degree are earned. Finally, students concurrently enrolled in multiple degree programs must be cognizant of requirements that students earn the JD in a maximum of eight semesters and five years.

For more information, please contact Professor Abe Cable at cablea@uclawsf.edu.

Sample Schedule

Year One: UC Law SF first year curriculum

Year Two: UC Law SF second year curriculum

Year Three: UCSC

• Pre-Fall:  Econ 186 – Math Methods for Econ Analysis (3 week course in September) [5 units]
• Fall Quarter: Econ 200 – Microeconomic Analysis [5 units]; Econ 216 – Applied Econometrics 1 [5 units]; Econ 233 – Finance [5 units]; Econ 294A – Applied Economics Lab – Stata [2 units]
• Winter Quarter: Econ 200 – Microeconomic Analysis [5 units]; Econ 217 – Applied Econometrics 2 [5 units]; Econ 294A – Applied Economics Law – R [2 units]; Econ 294B – Applied Economics Seminar [2 units]
• Spring Quarter: Econ 201 – Applied Microeconomics [5 units]; Econ 236 – Financial Engineering [5 units]; Econ 294B – Applied Economics Seminar [2 units]
• Other:  Comprehensive exams in 201 and 236

Year Four: UC Law SF third year curriculum