Welcome to UW - Madison!

The goal of the Economics Ph.D. program at the University of Wisconsin - Madison is to train economists: graduates of the program are prepared to undertake advanced research in economic theory, econometrics, and applied branches of economics, and to apply their knowledge and skills to a wide range of problems in a broad array of institutional settings. These aims are achieved through a program that combines coursework, examinations, seminars, and independent research, culminating in the completion and defense of a doctoral dissertation.

During the first year of the graduate program, students must acquire a thorough knowledge of microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory and econometrics. The nature of this material demands that entering students have considerable mathematics skills, at a minimum including complete facility with the basic tools of multivariate calculus, linear algebra and mathematical statistics.

The department offers seven fields of study. Information on each field can be found here.

• Microeconomic Theory
• Econometrics
• Industrial Organization
• International Economics
• Labor Economics
• Macro/Monetary Economics
• Public Economics (includes an optional health specialization)

Information regarding the Ph.D. program and application process is available on our website. Feel free to view the pages listed to the left and contact us (gradpro@ssc.wisc.edu) if you have additional questions.