Welcome to Economics at Ave Maria University! The department is composed of a boutique group of social scientists with a passion for teaching and mentoring. Though Economics is a young department, students who have studied in our courses or programs have already gone on to graduate school at the University of Chicago MAPPS and Columbia University PhD Program; to research associate positions at top centers such as the American Enterprise Institute and Heritage Foundation; and to excel in private industries ranging from banking and finance to real estate investment. Some of our graduates are young entrepreneurs, and some are giving back to the next generation, accepting teaching jobs at both private and public schools.
As a small department, we owe these successes to doing a few things very well. One of our most popular programs is the Family & Society Program—a cluster of courses in social research focusing on the analytical study of marriage, family, demographics, neighborhoods, economic mobility, education and religion. Another feature of our department is the use of applied game theory in a variety of settings. Students may specialize in Managerial Economics and Strategic Analysis (MESA)—a unique interdisciplinary major drawing from Economics and Business. Finally, we feature the advanced study of Catholic social thought as a required and invigorating component of every economics program at Ave Maria. This course—unique to Ave Maria—has been developed around the exposition and analysis of Papal writings since Leo XIII, and draws upon the work of some of the greatest interpreters of papal thought in the late 20th century, including F. Russell Hittinger, George Weigel, and Michael Novak.
