ECO adds prerequisite

Beginning with the Class of 2015, potential economics majors must have taken MAT 175: Mathematics for Economists/Life Sciences by the end of their sophomore year with a grade of C or better.

Before this change, students who wished to major in economics — including members of the Class of 2014 — had to have taken MAT 103: Calculus I in order to sign into the department. Some students could declare their concentration in economics with MAT 101: Calculus and MAT 102: Calculus after consultation with the departmental representative.

Other math classes which are not prerequisites to join the department but are prerequisites for certain departmental classes remain the same. For example, departmental courses that are more mathematically oriented, such as ECO 310: Microeconomic Theory, ECO 311: Macroeconomics and ECO 312: Econometrics, require MAT 200: Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calculus for Economists. Furthermore, students who wish to go to graduate school, earn a finance certificate or have strong interests in math are encouraged to take MAT 201: Multivariable Calculus and MAT 202: Linear Algebra with Applications.

The increasing diversity in the mathematics backgrounds of economics majors was one reason for the change in math prerequisites, department officials said. Recently, a committee of external faculty from peer institutions conducted a review of the University’s economics department and found that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of students enrolling in the department in the past few years.

“This growth has become unsustainable in its current form,” economics lecturer and Junior Departmental Representative Smita Brunnermeier said in an email. “It has become very challenging to teach our core and elective courses to an increasingly heterogeneous audience.”

The increase in number of students has resulted in difficulties teaching classes that require an in-depth understanding of certain mathematical concepts, Brunnermeier said, explaining that professors would spend class time explaining these concepts rather than their applications to economics.

She added that the field of economics itself has become more technical. For example, in core microeconomics courses — including ones that are less mathematically oriented — students need to be very familiar with constrained and unconstrained optimization. MAT 175 would provide them with a deeper understanding of a number of concepts beyond the scope of MAT 103.

“The faculty felt that our undergraduate program would be strengthened if all students concentrating in economics had a common base of study in multivariate calculus,” Brunnermeier said.

The economics department does not yet know whether its change in math prerequisites will impact the number of students enrolling in the department. However, it hopes that the mathematical background of future enrolling students will be unified and strengthened.

According to Brunnermeier, approximately 70 percent of the students who signed into the department in 2010 and 2011 had taken MAT 200 or earned a score of 5 on the AP Calculus BC exam, while 30 percent only had knowledge of single variable calculus. The change in prerequisites would give students of future classes a similar mathematical background, which would increase the effectiveness of teaching and learning.

“We felt that this was a good time to implement these changes since we had a unique opportunity to collaborate with the mathematics department and with [the] Woodrow Wilson School to ensure that the changes we have all proposed are coordinated and result in a net positive impact on Princeton undergraduates,” Brunnermeier said.

Some students from the Class of 2015 who are considering enrolling in the department said that its change in math prerequisites did not affect their decision to major in economics because they were already planning to take more math courses beyond the prerequisites.

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Jon Ma ’15 said that he planned to take MAT 201 and 202, which are prerequisites for ECO 310 and 311, because he wants to choose the math track for the major. Eva Weng ’15 is also taking MAT 201 and will take MAT 202 next semester because she said she plans to pursue a certificate in finance, which requires advanced mathematical coursework.

Similarly, Ellis Liang ’15 said that the change does not affect her decision to major in economics because she had been considering taking MAT 200 anyway.

“In fact, it might make me more inclined to take more math classes,” Liang said.