HomeExperienceAcademicsMajorsEconomics

The Academy Experience

WE BUILD INTELLECTS, LEADERS AND SUCCESS STORIES.

You can get a good education at any college or university. Here, we broaden your horizons, galvanize your character and help you pave the road to an exciting career. At the United States Air Force Academy, a world-class education is just the beginning.

Economics

Economics is the scientific study of how people and institutions use their limited resources to satisfy their unlimited wants. The discipline begins a sequence of core economic courses and then branches outward allowing cadets to focus on the international arena, public policy and finance, or quantitative economics. The major is designed to help cadets develop analytical skills which can be applied in a variety of circumstances. Cadets acquire the tools necessary to solve a wide range of problems such as allocating military personnel, analyzing a company’s production efficiency, and evaluating the effect of government regulations. The Economics major develops problem solving techniques which have been proven effective in today’s changing Air Force environment and is widely recognized as a solid background for careers in business, government, law, and teaching.

The goal of the Economics program is to graduate leaders of character who:

  1. Apply the Economic Way of Thinking to analyze and solve problems.
    • Evaluate incentive structures of institutions/organizations/markets using the concepts of: opportunity costs, marginal analysis, supply and demand, specialization, gains from trade and macroeconomics,
    • Evaluate alternatives and the intended/unintended consequences of policy decisions to make optimal choices,
    • Critically analyze economic, public issue, policy, national security or other (multi-disciplinary) problems.
  2. Understand the strengths and the limitations of economic analysis,
    • Use positive/normative principles in relation to ethical implications,
    • Choose appropriate analytical tools to solve economic problems.
  3. Effectively communicate economic concepts and analyses,
    • Explain (verbally and written) analytical and statistical concepts to non-economists,
    • Construct persuasive arguments, based on economic insights, regarding rational choices.

Get the Course Sequence

For more information, download the recommended course sequence for this major.

Economics Course Sequence

Do you want to Attend the Academy?

Understanding our admissions requirements is the first step.

VISIT ADMISSIONS