What Will a Graduate Degree in Economics Enable You To Do?
Graduate programs in economics, particularly Ph.D. programs, emphasize the training of teachers and researchers. While economists are involved in a variety of jobs, the vast majority of those with graduate degrees are involved in research in either industry or government or in a combination of research and teaching in colleges and universities. You should also note that there are many varieties of graduate programs for those with specialized interests (of which the most notable are programs specifically in Agricultural and Resource Economics).

The Graduate School Experience
The approach to the study of economics in graduate school is very different from most undergraduate experiences. The textbooks and journal articles a student reads in graduate school are often theoretical and abstract. Visits to graduate programs during which one sits in on classes provide a good source of information; furthermore, one may read comments from recent graduates. See, e.g., The Making of an Economist by Arjo Klamer and David Colander (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1990). An article (of the same title) by these authors was published earlier in the Journal of Economic Perspectives (1987).
The Committee on Graduate Education in Economics (COGEE) conducted a review of graduate education in economics and reported its findings in the September 1991 issue of the Journal of Economic Literature. COGEE asked faculty members, graduate students, and recent Ph.D.'s to rank the most important skills needed to be successful in the study of graduate economics. Most important were analytical skills and mathematics, followed by critical judgment, the ability to apply theory, and computational skills. Least important were creativity and the ability to communicate. If you are interested in economic issues but do not have the characteristics required by graduate economics departments, there are other economics-related fields to consider, such as graduate school in public policy. Many economics majors go to business schools to obtain an MBA and are often better prepared than students who have undergraduate degrees in business.

Graduate students in economics may pursue programs leading to the master's and/or doctoral degrees. The requirements for each of these degrees vary significantly among schools, so you should consult specific university catalogues (or The Economics Institute Guide to Graduate Study) for particulars. However, programs leading to a master's degree in economics usually take from one to two years of graduate study to complete; some require that a student complete a master's thesis. Most Ph.D. programs in economics require two or three years of coursework, after which you have to pass a theory exam and two or more field exams. The last stage of the program requires that you conduct some original research and report the results in a dissertation. Ph.D. degrees in economics can be completed in four years, but they often take longer. In the social sciences the median time that it takes for a student to complete the Ph.D. degree is about 7.5 years. Furthermore, a high percentage (roughly 50 percent) of students do not complete their doctoral degrees.

Finances
There are several sources you may consult to ascertain the cost of various programs (which vary considerably from school to school); two good references are the Chronicle of Higher Education's annual listing and the College Board's The College Cost Book. Of course, individual university catalogues report these figures as well.

Most universities offer aid to graduate students in the form of scholarships, fellowships, assistantships, or loans. It is common for Ph.D. programs to hire their economics graduate students as teaching or research assistants. Teaching assistants begin by grading papers and running review sessions and can advance to teaching classes on their own. Research assistants generally do data collection, statistical work, and library research for professors and often jointly write papers with them. Most assistantships will pay for tuition and provide you with enough money to live on. Keep in mind that students applying for financial aid must submit their applications for admission earlier (sometimes before the end of December) than those who are not. Information on deadlines and necessary forms should be obtained from individual schools.

Where Should You Apply?
The best graduate school for you depends on a lot of things, especially your ability level, geographical location, areas of research interests, and, of course, financing. You should talk with your professors about ability level and areas of research. In addition, there are informative articles that give overall departmental rankings and rankings by subfield. See especially John Tschirhart, "Ranking Economics Department in Areas of Expertise," Journal of Economic Education, and David Colander, "Research on the Economic Profession," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 3, no. 4, Fall 1989, pp. 137-148. The following list reports the rankings done in 1995 by William H. Kaempfer and Chao Jing of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Their list compiles six earlier studies into an aggregate ranking.