Over the past 15 years, the department has been on an upward trajectory through its efforts in recruiting and retaining highly productive faculty. The faculty are committed to delivering first-class undergraduate and graduate programs and to producing high quality economics research. Economics is the largest major in the College of Arts and Science. The undergraduate program in economics provides rigorous training to economics majors, preparing them for future careers in business, law, and government, or for pursuing graduate study. The Ph.D. program in economics builds on the core of economic theory and econometric methods, and equips students to conduct frontier research in their dissertations. Students enter the Ph.D. program from around the country and abroad. Recent graduates have been hired in tenure-track positions at the London School of Economics, University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina, Emory University, and Universitat Pompeu Fabra, among others. The Graduate Program in Economic Development offers the MA degree in economic development, as well as a non-thesis certificate in economic development. Since its inception in 1956, about 1300 students from 120 countries have studied in the program and many of them have gone to distinguished careers in public services in their home countries, or worked in international development organizations.