Exploring Economics Minors at UCLA: A Guide to Enhancing Your Academic Profile

For UCLA undergraduates seeking to broaden their knowledge base and enhance their career prospects, a minor can be a valuable addition to their academic journey. With over 100 minors offered, students have the opportunity to explore diverse fields of study that complement their major. This article focuses on economics-related minors at UCLA, outlining their requirements and potential benefits.

The Appeal of an Economics Minor

Economics is the study of decision-making in the face of scarcity, offering a rigorous framework for analyzing how individuals, firms, and countries allocate resources and respond to incentives. An economics minor can provide students with valuable analytical skills applicable to various fields, including health, gender studies, environmental science, education, and immigration. It equips students with tools for understanding political, commercial, industrial, and even household decision-making.

Economics and Other Disciplines

Many students find that combining economics with another major or minor is highly beneficial. The intersection of economics with other disciplines provides a unique perspective and skill set that can be advantageous in academia, government, social work, consulting, finance, and the private sector. Graduates with an economics background have pursued advanced degrees at prestigious institutions such as Brown University, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, and UC Berkeley.

Economics-Related Minors at UCLA

UCLA offers several minors that align with economics, providing students with opportunities to specialize in specific areas of interest:

Minor in Accounting

This minor provides students with a comprehensive background in accounting principles, covering financial and managerial accounting, taxation, and financial statement analysis.

Read also: Best Economics Degrees

Requirements and Application:

Applicants must be full-time UCLA undergraduate students in good academic standing.
A grade of B or better must be achieved in both MGMT 1A (Principles of Accounting) and MGMT 1B (Principles of Accounting) or their equivalents.
Applications are accepted during the first week of Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters, with strict deadlines.
All upper-division coursework must be completed at UCLA.
The Accounting Minor Interviewing Workshop, a three-part series focusing on personal branding, networking, resume building, and cover letter writing, is a required preparation course.

The innovative Business Interviewing Workshop series at UCLA Anderson has become a cornerstone of professional development for students pursuing the Accounting Minor. In this foundational session, students engage in guided self-reflection to identify their authentic traits, qualities and values. Building on their authentic self-understanding, students develop achievement-based resumes that showcase tangible results rather than merely listing responsibilities. They learn to transform modest, function-oriented statements into compelling communication by incorporating traits, metrics and contributions into their job descriptions. The workshop culminates in a dynamic panel discussion featuring partners, managers, staff members and recruiters from prestigious accounting and consulting firms. In this artfully facilitated dialogue that functions like a live podcast, industry representatives share insights about organizational culture, expectations and career paths while students ask targeted questions that inform their professional decisions. As a complement to conventional career support that focuses primarily on tactical skills, this approach addresses self-reflection, self-appreciation and building sustainable self-confidence about employability that determines interview success. Workshop facilitator Nance Rosen, MBA, Ed.D., brings exceptional expertise as a former marketing executive at the Coca-Cola Company, the first woman director of marketing in the global 2000 technology sector, a business development trainer for accounting firms, and president of the Medical Marketing Association. Her decade hosting International Business on public radio and her extensive communication coaching for leaders across technology, finance and other sectors informs a practical, engaging approach that resonates with both students and industry partners. Her latest book, Speak Up! & Succeed: How to Get Everything You Want in Meetings, Presentations, and Conversations (2nd ed.), is part of university curriculum worldwide.

Minor in Entrepreneurship

This minor introduces undergraduate students to the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to start and manage their own ventures.

Minor in Labor and Workplace Studies

This minor offers students the opportunity to explore the workplace and the social, political, and economic forces that shape it. The curriculum emphasizes the labor market, public policy, employment relations, unions, and working-class movements.

Complementary Majors and Minors

In addition to the economics-related minors, several other majors and minors at UCLA can complement an economics background:

Mathematics/Economics (Joint Major): This joint major is particularly recommended for students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Economics or related disciplines.
Psychology: The Psychology major offers broad coverage of the fundamental areas of psychology, providing a strong foundation for postgraduate education in psychology and related fields such as law, education, government, business, and health professions.
Political Science: The Political Science major provides an understanding of political processes and institutions, covering the interaction between national states, the relationship between citizens and governments, and the values that shape political life.

The Value of Minors

Minors allow students to delve into subjects of personal interest, broaden their skill sets, and enhance their diversity. They can also provide a competitive edge in the job market. UCLA offers a wide array of minors that can be paired with majors in unexpected ways, such as combining a food studies minor with majors in chemistry, biology, or communication.

Read also: Funding Your Economics Degree

Business Economics Major at UCLA

The Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics offers a major for students seeking a business orientation in their study of economics. It does not replicate the traditional undergraduate business school curriculum. Instead, it offers a more tightly focused curriculum that is guided by the rigorous logic and integrative perspective of economics. It is designed to prepare students for graduate education in business, economics, and law. The program requires students to include specific courses offered by the department and the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management.

Notification of acceptance into the Business Economics major will be provided approximately two weeks after the week three deadline - also in the form of an Econ Alert. Students are asked to submit an application only if they meet all the application criteria.

STEM Designation for Economics

The Bachelor of Arts in Economics is now classified as a STEM major (CIP Code 45.0603: Econometrics and Quantitative Economics). This change is in effect for students with a Degree Expected Term of Fall Quarter 2019 or later. It does not apply retroactively.

Career Paths with an Economics Background

An economics background can lead to diverse and rewarding career paths. Here are a few examples of growing fields:

Actuaries: Companies need actuaries to develop, price, and evaluate insurance products and calculate the cost of new risks. This field is expected to grow significantly.
Financial Managers: As the economy grows, the demand for financial managers to plan, direct, and coordinate investments is expected to increase.
Management Analysts: Organizations seek management analysts to improve efficiency and control costs.

Resources at UCLA

UCLA provides numerous resources to support students in their academic and career pursuits:

Research Centers, Institutes, and Labs: UCLA offers hundreds of research centers, institutes, and labs that encourage collaboration across disciplines.
Bruin Development Academy: This program provides resources for students to navigate their careers.
Earned-Income Opportunities Project: This award-winning program connects undergraduates with local nonprofits to help them identify earned-income opportunities.

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