Dear Math Majors,

I am passing this on to you as requested. However, I will point out that this program costs $31K in tuition alone and it is not clear to me that such an MS is the best route for a math major to a great career--your undergraduate math degree alone is already worth a lot and earning an MS in math generally includes tuition waivers and a GTA salary. It is also possible to earn an MS in a fifth year with careful planning (taking graduate credits in your senior year). There are other options as well, such as in the very hot field of data analysis, for which your math degree prepares you well for an MS program.


Conrad Plaut
Professor and Department Head
Mathematics Department
University of Tennessee
 

On 1/31/21, 9:45 PM, "Perry, Martin" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

    Professor Plaut

    My name is Marty Perry.  I am Director of the Master of Science Program in Policy Economics (MSPE) in the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  First, I hope you and your family are well during this difficult period with the COVID-19 virus.     

    I am writing again this year to tell you about our MSPE Program.  The program was started in 1984 and now has over 1800 alumni from over 100 countries.  The program is ranked in the top 8-12 of professional Master’s programs at U.S. economics departments:   https://tfetimes.com/best-economics-program-rankings/ .  The MSPE program might be interesting for one or more of your best undergraduate majors who are graduating in May 2021 or December 2021.  Starting this year, a student can start the program in either August or in January.  You can forward this email to your students and they can obtain more information from our webpage:  http://www.mspe.illinois.edu/ <http://www.mspe.illinois.edu/ .  The standard application deadline is April 1, but we can accept late applications at least until June 1.  The tuition for this coming academic year is approximately $31,000.  As I explain below, the program can easily be completed in one year by taking summer courses.  If one or more of your students (or you) have any questions, we can set up a Zoom call with me and/or the Associate Director Ali Toossi.

    Let me briefly describe the program.  There are  four required courses in the core fields:  microeconomics, macroeconomics, economic statistics, and econometrics.  Students who are particularly well-prepared in mathematics and statistics can receive approval to take the corresponding Ph.D. courses in these core fields (called the Ph.D. Track).  The program then requires six elective courses that can be chosen from fields such as advanced econometrics, monetary economics, international economics, development economics, industrial organization, and public economics.  We will soon be posting short videos by the faculty about the topics they discuss in their MSPE course.  Students can also choose elective courses in finance, mathematics, and statistics.   

    The program can easily be completed over three regular semesters.  Students can start in the fall semester and graduate in December of their second year.  Now that we offer a spring start in January, students can graduate in May of the following year.   Moreover, the program can also be completed in one year by taking four courses in each of the fall and spring semesters and two courses in a summer semester.  This one-year option is very manageable for domestic students because they would not have to take English (ESL) courses which are required for many of the international students.  Thus, the spring start could be very attractive to your students who are graduating early in December of 2021.  In particular, they could start the MSPE program in January of 2022 and graduate in December 2022, thus completing their undergraduate degree and the MSPE degree in four and half years.    

    Some MSPE graduates are interested in Ph.D. programs.  Our MSPE graduates have been accepted in Ph.D. programs at over 40 different economics departments in the United States.  The MSPE coursework in the core fields prepares students for the challenging coursework in the first year of a PhD program.  For students who do not plan to pursue a PhD in economics, the elective field courses are ideal preparation for policy research positions in government agencies and international organizations, and business research positions in marketing, finance, strategy, or management consulting.  As such, the MSPE program can be a great transition for your graduates who should continue their education in economics or finance, but are not exactly sure how to proceed next, or may not be quite prepared for a PhD program.

    One of the unique features of the program is that nearly all the courses are taught by the regular tenure-track faculty members in the Department.  A few courses, mostly the summer courses, are taught by our former PhD students who have made successful careers at other universities.  A second unique feature is that we have field trips, policy seminars, and social events.  Because of COVID-19, we had to cancel the field trips and social events this year, but we held the policy seminars by zoom.  We hope that everything will return to normal this fall as everyone becomes vaccinated.  A third unique feature is that the program is a STEM program.  This allows international students to obtain three years of Optional Practical Training (OPT) after they complete the MSPE degree in order to gain work experience with a private sector employer in the United States.  This then allows employers to hire MSPE graduates into fulltime positions and then request H-1B visas for them.  The new Biden administration clearly plans to eliminate the recent restrictions placed on international student visas and may even expand the number of H-1B visas available for graduates from STEM programs.    

    In recent years, the MSPE entering class has been 75-85 students.  With our new faculty members, we are now able to increase the number to about 90-100 students.   The program is comprised mostly of international students, but we are steadily increasing the number of domestic students.  Most of the international students are from China, but there are also many students from other countries in Asia, South America, and the Middle East.  We are sending this email to you because we believe that there may be excellent domestic or international students from your department who could benefit from the MSPE program.  

    If you have a student who might be interested in the MSPE program, they can send an email to me or Ali Toossi who is the Associate Director.  We could also set up a Zoom call to answer questions in a more personal setting.        

    Marty Perry
    Director, MSPE Program
    Department of Economics
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign   
    [log in to unmask]

    Ali Toossi
    Associate Director, MSPE Program
    [log in to unmask]











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