Amanda Anderson – UW OshkoshFaculty Advisors: M. Ryan Haley, Sarinda Taengnoi

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Graduate Program in Economics?

BackgroundIncreased interest in a graduate program for

Economics MA Economics existed at UWO until the mid 1980sNumber of Econ majors has increased from < 20 to

nearly 200The last 6-8 yrs. many UWO undergrads to grad

programs elsewhereEcon dept. joined COB – soon to be in a new state-of-

the-art academic building Determine the viability of MA program at UWO

Many benchmark schools have similar programsDetermine likelihood of sustaining a new program

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MotivationGain research experienceThe prior failure of a Masters

program in Economics at UWO Develop a more efficient and

concrete means for decision making

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Data

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Compared to benchmark universities: Size 10,000 students and greater Great Lakes region: IL, WI, OH, MI, IN At least an undergrad program in Econ

Compiled data for each school on:

Data SourcesIntegrated Post-secondary Education

Database (IPED) by the U.S. Department of Education.

StateUniversity.comWebsite for each individual university

included in the studyVariables: 2008 academic year to

current 47 Universities

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MethodologyLOGIT model was most appropriateUse dummy variable: Econ Grad

ProgramProvides a probability model using

current school statistics

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ModelsLOGIT A:

Dependent variable: Graduate program in Econ dummyIndependent variables: Economics faculty size, COB

dummy, undergrad Econ diplomas, ACT, student/faculty ratio

Multicollinearity leading to Z suppression, but pseudo R2 of 0.2477

LOGIT B:Dependent variable: Graduate program in Econ dummyIndependent variables: COB dummy and ACTReduces multicollinearity, but pseudo R2 decreased to

0.1620Most parsimonious model – includes most statistically

significant predictors

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Descriptive Statistics

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Variable Mean Std DevEcon faculty 24.739 14.863Undergrad Econ diplomas 80.674 99.260ACT 26.238 3.067Student/faculty ratio 20.239 8.214

Probability ResultsLOGIT A =1/(1+ exp

(5.582617+1.547932*[COB dummy]-0.2716347*[ACT]))

LOGIT B=1/(1+ EXP(-0.2593125+ 0.043009* [Econ Faculty]+0.6626516* [COB dummy]-0.0182598* [Econ undergrad diplomas]-0.128417* [ACT]+0.132186* [student/faculty ratio]))

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Conclusion

UW Oshkosh has a probability of 35.18% with LOGIT A and 54.36% with LOGIT B indicating that there is evidence that a Masters of Economics program is supportable and appropriate.

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Institution Econ Faculty Part of COB? Grad ProgramProbabilityA ErrorA ProbB ErrorBUniversity of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 11 0 0 81.46% -81.46% 64.06% -64.06%University of Wisconsin-Madison 53 0 1 92.87% 7.13% 99.58% 0.42%University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 21 0 1 71.84% 28.16% 68.39% 31.61%University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 13 1 0 35.18% -35.18% 54.36% -54.36%University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 10 1 0 35.18% -35.18% 39.27% -39.27%