<p>Does the quality of education/amount of material learned vary greatly by university?
How much better is an economics degree vs a business economics or a business degree?
What types of courses indicate that a particular University has a strong econ department?
For a non Masters/Phd. path, how important is it to double up with math as a major/minor?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>
Economics programs at lower-ranked schools tend to be less heavy on the math side and put more focus on the policy and history side of economics. You could consider that a lower quality education because economics is all about using quantitative tools.</p>
<p>
Besides the pure number of courses offered as well as courses in your area of interest, look at the math prerequisites of upper-division macro- and microeconomics courses. A rigorous economics major requires Calc 3 and possibly a class in differential equations. A not so rigorous program does not go beyond Calc 1.</p>
<p>
They are different degrees, plain and simple. A business degree teaches you how to run a business: you will learn about accounting and corporate finance and business law and operations management. Economics on the other side entails courses such as macro- and microeconomics, econometrics (statistics), game theory, international trade, environmental economics, etc. Economics studies how the economy works as a whole w/o attention to individual businesses.</p>
<p>I second b@r!um’s answer. He hit the nail on the head.</p>