The PhD in Economics at Texas A&M University offers rigorous training within a collaborative research environment. Students work closely with faculty who publish in leading journals and often coauthor with them. Frequent placement in tenure-track and research institutions reflects strong faculty mentoring and professional development.
Program Experience
Students move from coursework to independent research through a well-defined sequence: Year 1: Core micro, macro, and econometrics. Year 2: Field specialization and advanced electives. Year 3+: Dissertation research and job-market workshops. Milestones include preliminary exams, candidacy, and dissertation defense.
Research Culture
Texas A&M’s Department of Economics fosters an active and collegial environment. Faculty research spans applied microeconomics, behavioral economics, experimental economics, econometrics, macroeconomics, and theory. Regular workshops promote early exposure to frontier research. Faculty publish in the American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Political Economy, and other top journals.
Student Achievements
During their time as students, many have earned grants and fellowships from the NSF, Russell Sage Foundation, and NBER, and published their work in top field journals. Students have completed internships at the IMF, the Federal Reserve Board and Banks, and Analysis Group. Program graduates have recently been tenured at R1 universities across the United States.
Student Placements
Placements into tenure-track and research positions are consistently higher than in peer programs.
Placement Percentages
UCSB: University of California, Santa Barbara; UIUC: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; OSU: Ohio State
University; MSU: Michigan State University; UCI: University of California, Irvine; PSU: Pennsylvania State University; UT: University of Texas at Austin; UW: University of Washington; UNC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Placement percentages are based on data from
2013–2025, except for PSU and MSU (2021–2025).
Admissions
Admission is selective and fully funded. Evaluation considers preparation in economics and quantitative methods, academic record, and research potential. International applicants are welcome. Application deadline: December 31.
Contacts: Jorge Luis García (Director of Admissions) jlgarcia@tamu.edu; Alex
Brown (Director of PhD Program) alexbrown@tamu.edu; Jonathan Meer (Department
Head) jmeer@tamu.edu