Best Economist programs in Arkansas, ranked by enrollment
Conduct research, prepare reports, or formulate plans to address economic problems related to the production and distribution of goods and services or monetary and fiscal policy.
8 schools in Arkansas run programs that feed this job, graduating 139 people a year. The job pays a median of $91,560 in Arkansas across about 50 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Arkansas that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
4 programs in Arkansas that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Arkansas (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Arkansas page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Economics, Generalmain feeder CIP 45.0601In Arkansas → | 74 | 53.2% | 4 | $51,725 | $22,907 |
| 2 | Business/Managerial Economicsmain feeder CIP 52.0601In Arkansas → | 38 | 27.3% | 5 | $53,269 | $21,962 |
| 3 | CIP 01.0103In Arkansas → | 18 | 12.9% | 1 | $47,242 | $19,964 |
| 4 | Econometrics and Quantitative Economicsmain feeder CIP 45.0603In Arkansas → | 9 | 6.5% | 2 | $51,725 | $22,907 |
Top 8 schools in Arkansas
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 8 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR Public · 4 feeder programs | 78 | Business/Managerial Economics | $54,471 | 71% | — | 74% |
| 2 | Hendrix College Conway, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Economics, General | $40,445 | 72% | $22,415 | 56% |
| 3 | University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Economics, General | $41,919 | 54% | — | 89% |
| 4 | Arkansas State University Jonesboro, AR Public · 2 feeder programs | 8 | Economics, General | — | 55% | — | 82% |
| 5 | University of Arkansas - East Arkansas Community College Forrest City, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Business/Managerial Economics | — | 51% | — | — |
| 6 | Lyon College Batesville, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Econometrics and Quantitative Economics | — | 47% | $22,199 | 63% |
| 7 | University of Arkansas at Little Rock Little Rock, AR Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Business/Managerial Economics | — | 42% | — | 59% |
| 8 | John Brown University Siloam Springs, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Business/Managerial Economics | — | 72% | $20,325 | 76% |
All 8 schools in Arkansas
Every school in Arkansas with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arkansas | Fayetteville | Public | 78 | 4 |
| Hendrix College | Conway | Private not-for-profit | 23 | 1 |
| University of Central Arkansas | Conway | Public | 18 | 1 |
| Arkansas State University | Jonesboro | Public | 8 | 2 |
| University of Arkansas - East Arkansas Community College | Forrest City | Public | 5 | 1 |
| Lyon College | Batesville | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| University of Arkansas at Little Rock | Little Rock | Public | 3 | 1 |
| John Brown University | Siloam Springs | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
What economists earn in Arkansas
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $124,720. Arkansas pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Arkansas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Economists page.
How to become a Economist
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Arkansas
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 16 majors mapped to Economists16 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0103Agricultural Economics
- 03.0204Environmental/Natural Resource Economics
- 27.0305Financial Mathematics
- 30.3901Economics and Computer Science
- 30.4001Economics and Foreign Language/Literature
- 30.4901Mathematical Economics
- 30.5101Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
- 45.0601Economics, General
- 45.0602Applied Economics
- 45.0603Econometrics and Quantitative Economics
- 45.0604Development Economics and International Development
- 45.0605International Economics
- 45.0699Economics, Other
- 45.1004Political Economy
- 51.2007Pharmacoeconomics/Pharmaceutical Economics
- 52.0601Business/Managerial Economics
Common questions
Answers for people weighing economists programs in Arkansas.
What degree do you need to become an Economist?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Economics, General, which awarded 74 degrees in Arkansas in 2024-25, 53.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Economist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Economics, Business/Managerial Economics, Agricultural Business and Management. Together they graduate about 139 people a year in Arkansas.
How much do economists earn in Arkansas?+
The median is $91,560 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 26.6% below the U.S. median of $124,720. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for economists growing?+
BLS projects a +1.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Arkansas?+
8 institutions in Arkansas reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do economists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Economist, Economic Analyst, Forensic Economist, Research Economist, Resource Economist, Economic Consultant among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-3011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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