UPLB Department of Economics

Since its inception in 1975, the UPLB Department of Economics has been an academic hub for quality education, research, and extension in Economics. Committed to equipping students with the tools for theoretical and applied analyses in Economics, the Department began offering the program leading to a Bachelor of Science in Economics degree in 1986, and that for the Master of Science in Economics degree in 1999.

Admission into the degree programs of the department is highly competitive. For the Bachelor of Science in Economics, applicants must be able to pass the U.P. College Admission Test, where only the upper 10 percent of the examinees are given admission to the university. For our graduate program, applicants must be able to show proof of intellectual capacity to tackle the demands of graduate work. The Department's academic programs are internationally recognized for its’ excellence, attracting both local and international students. Our graduates have progressed to positions of leadership in the academia, government, civil society, and in the private sector.The department has also a long tradition of academic excellence and an unrivaled reputation for participatory research that continues to influence government policies, both in the local and the national level.

The Department’s research and public service thrusts have generally dealt with issues relating to development, labor, poverty, international trade, public finance, the environment, among others. The results of these undertakings have served as valuable inputs for decision making, both in the private and public sectors.

In order to make our academic programs relevant to the fast changing world, the department continues to explore new emerging fields in economics which includes, energy economics, economics of regulation, experimental economics, and the economics of climate change.