This past fall, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia approved a code switch for the economics program at the College of William and Mary. This decision changes the economics degree from a social science to a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Classification of Instructional Program.
The new designation, already in effect, will not change the coursework or graduation requirements for an economics major. Instead, it will indicate a mathematical focus in the economics department, something not reflected previously in the general social science CIP code.
Economics department chair Peter McHenry emphasized that the change aligns with the work of the discipline.
“It just reflected what we’re doing already as a field because economics is very quantitative and mathematical and has been for decades,” McHenry said.
Quantitative coursework is reflected in many aspects of the economics major, including base-level prerequisite courses, higher-level theoretical courses and electives. McHenry expanded on the mathematics required for the degree.
“We have math requirements, students all take calculus as part of the economics degree, and the theory courses, in particular, apply mathematical modeling and ideas to economic issues,” he said. “We also do a lot of statistics and data work that includes a lot of math and scientific and engineering-type thinking.”
This coursework was taken into consideration when proposing the change to a STEM CIP. Director of Academic Program Authorization Rachel Gable, who helped enact the change, recalls this process.
“I asked the department chair to run an analysis on the required coursework to determine whether we really were offering a quantitative heavy degree program within the B.A. in economics, and he made the case that yes indeed we were,” Gable said.
This change has implications for economics graduates entering the job market. The STEM CIP will allow employers to identify students with a specific range of quantitative skill sets, making the major more marketable.
“Changing from a general economics CIP code to a quantitative economic CIP code will allow future employers to more easily understand that William and Mary grads from the economics degree program have the quantitative skills required for certain kinds of jobs that they would not automatically assume students would have with a general economics degree,” Gable said.
Graduating with a STEM degree will also benefit international students. All international students studying in the United States receive an F-1 visa, allowing them to maintain enrollment at an accredited university. Graduating with a STEM degree designates international students eligible to apply for an additional Optional Practical Training year to stay in the United States and gain experience in their field of study.
“I remember hearing a story, a student said ‘I’m not going to major in economics even though I really like economics. I’m going to major in something else because that something else is a STEM degree, and that will get me the extra OPT year.’ And if that’s one anecdote, there are probably others,” McHenry said.
Now that the economics degree has moved to a STEM CIP code, graduating students have the opportunity to extend their visas.
“With this CIP code designation, our international undergraduates, when they graduate, can apply for one extra year of an extended visa as a part of a privilege that they are given because they have a database degree program that’s considered a value in the United States,” Gable said.
This benefit was crucial to the department’s decision to advocate for the code change.
“The designation really makes a difference for international students on visas and graduates with a STEM degree, and so that was just a clear win for a group of students we value, of course,” McHenry said.
The code switch is in alignment with the College’s Vision 2026 initiative, which focuses on both data and careers. The plan works to integrate the computational methodology of data into the liberal arts curriculum and prepare students for the dynamic job market.
“It clarifies that an existing degree program helps our students to be very focused on specific types of careers and also specific ways of interacting with data and championing database decision making,” Gable said.
Data is an important pillar of the economics field, and the STEM designation emphasizes William and Mary’s dedication to prioritizing data work.
“We have been using data in economics for decades,” McHenry said. “We economists invented a lot of the methods that people used to make imprints from data. We love data, and so we participate wholeheartedly in the data environment at William and Mary.”
Prospective economic students and declared economic majors alike are excited about this change, believing it will open new opportunities for graduating students.
Economics student Winston Hughes ’28 shared positive sentiments about the decision.
“I think overall the code switch is a really good designation, and it does help a lot in terms of getting more people encouraged to do economics if they now know they can get a STEM degree,” he said.
