Highlight on Students

We have 360 students registered in Spring Semester, 2010. Not nearly all our students were undergraduate Economics majors. The average age of our students is 28 years. In May, 2009, we had 67 graduates. Here are some stories from our students:

Jared Bebee, a research assistant at the International Monetary Fund, believes that the program has been an outstanding complement to his undergraduate studies. He writes: "The diverse and experienced faculty present stimulating material that I have applied in my work. Already the core macroeconomics course has given me deeper insight into the Global Economy Model (GEM), used by the Fund to gauge the effects of a wide array of economic events on the global economy. I am confident that the Applied Economics Program will provide me with the practical skills and deeper knowledge I will need to develop any economics related ventures I may choose to undertake in the future."

Richard Braswell writes: "Following a first career in the US trade union movement as an organizer and contract negotiator, I turned to the JHU master’s program in Applied Economics to develop a deeper understanding of our economy and acquire the tools needed to analyze societal impacts of economic policy. I find the Applied Economics program rigorous and stimulating. It is particularly useful in these uncertain economic times, as the program is not overly constrained by any policy orthodoxy. We study the range of economic theory and the analytic methods required to objectively evaluate economic challenges and to offer policy responses."

Bethia Cullis is a Cost and Risk Analyst with Northrop Grumman Information Technology, where she is responsible for evaluating the financial risk of, and determining the range of possible financial outcomes for, major bids before they are submitted. She earned a bachelor's degree in Economics and English from Case Western Reserve University. Bethia writes: "I looked for a Master's program focused on the application of economic theory to real-world questions and chose John's Hopkins because the electives offered cover a wide variety of interesting topics, including International Economics, Public Policy and Environmental Policy. In addition, the Johns Hopkins program is one of the few of its kind truly designed for part time studies, while the coursework is rigorous but manageable."

Greg D'Angelo is a Policy Analyst at the Center for Health Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank. Having received his bachelor's degree in political science and public policy from Duke University, his work mainly consists of research and writing as well as briefing key policymakers in Washington and the States. "The program at Johns Hopkins," Greg remarked, "has given me the necessary economic tools for policy analysis which I draw upon day-to-day to effect positive changes in public policy."

Arif Haque is a special assistant to Congressman John Conyers. "The program has been a great experience. Nearly every class has covered issues that I encounter at work. Hill staffers cover many complex topics and the professors offer useful perspectives from their diverse work experiences. For example, in my trade class I was exposed to theory, economic history, empirical data, and case studies. As a result, I gained sharper analytical tools which better prepared me to brief my Congressman on pending trade legislation."

Petya Kehayova is a research assistant at the Urban Institute, where she works with large-scale databases on the finances and operational activities of U.S. public charities, private foundations, and other tax-exempt organizations. She writes: "Through my courses in Applied Economics, I am learning how to take that heavy-load data, and run statistical and regression analyses on it to answer social policy research questions. For pursuing my career goals, I must say I made the right choice with the Applied Economics program."

Ruth Mantell is a personal finance reporter for MarketWatch, Dow Jones’s free news Web site,and covers the labor market, consumer saving and spending, and other topics. She has been a reporter for Dow Jones for almost five years, and also writes features for The Wall Street Journaland WSJ.com. Prior to Dow Jones, Ruth reported for small and large newspapers in markets ranging from Georgia to Hawaii to New York. Ruth received a master’s degree in journalism fromNorthwestern University in 2003, and a bachelor's degree in English from Carnegie Mellon University in 1999. Recently, she completed two reporting fellowships at the National Press Foundation. Ruth and her husband live in Washington, DC, and expect their first baby on Sept. 1.

Lauren Vorisek teaches High School History in Montgomery County, MD. Her abiding interest in Economic History led her to the further study of Economics with us. She was "initially apprehensive about enrolling in an economics program because I had taken only introductory economics, statistics and calculus classes in undergrad. TheApplied Economics program is rigorous and demanding even for those who already have a firmer grasp on the subject, and it is extraordinarily challenging for those with only minimal preparation in Economics. However, the program has students from a variety of fields who bring stories from their work and experience to the classroom, making the models that we learn more tangible and interesting." Her analytical and critical thinking skills have improved greatly through the program, and this will make her a better teacher, she writes.