Capstone

The Econ ePortfolio is an online project intended to help students reflect on their experiences in the major and plan how to integrate these major experiences with future goals. Declared majors will be added to online "classrooms" with their assigned major advisor, who will review the ePortfolio for completion. A completed ePortfolio will include:

1. A cohesive and engaging cover letter that describes the student’s identity, demonstrates their learning, and provides a framework for viewing the ePortfolio.

2. Carefully curated examples of work, or artifacts, that provide evidence for learning. Artifacts should represent a variety of genres and modes, and they can be drawn from any curricular or co-curricular work done while at Stanford. Notation ePortfolios typically have 6-12 artifacts.

3. Additional reflections that contextualize artifacts and expand on the overall message about learning presented in the cover letter. Reflections should accompany all individual artifacts, and some students choose to include additional reflections on artifact groupings or on their future goals.

4. Purposeful design with a clear site architecture and thoughtful visual rhetoric that supports the student’s overall message about their identity and learning. Most students build their ePortfolios using the online tool Digication, though students can petition to use other platforms as needed.

Students will receive a Satisfactory/Incomplete grade for the completion of their ePortfolio and will be required to meet with their advisor twice during their junior year to review. You can find more information in the ePortfolio Student Guide. Current declared juniors may log in to their ePortfolio here.

UPDATED DEADLINES FOR AY23-24: 

Juniors in AY23-24 are required to complete the ePortfolio by the end of week 3 of winter quarter (Friday, January 26th by 11:59pm) and meet with their advisors for approval by the end of week 5 (Friday, February 9th).

Students may choose to complete option A or option B to complete their senior capstone requirement:

(A) ECON 101: Economic Policy Seminar

Econ 101 is the Economics Capstone course, and fulfills both the WIM and Capstone requirements for the Econ BA. Economic policy analysis, writing, and oral presentations are a large component of this course, with topics varying by instructor. Students may also complete group projects that include empirical economic analysis focused on a specific topic. The goal of this course is to enable students to utilize the skills they have acquired throughout their time in the major, and enrollment is limited by application before the start of the school year. 

Students expecting to graduate in the upcoming school year (rising seniors) will be asked to submit their section preferences before the start of the school year. The Undergraduate SSO will then alert students of which section they have been sorted into and provide them with permission numbers to enroll. Students who complete an Econ Honors Thesis for the Econ BAH will NOT be required to enroll in ECON 101, but will still be required to submit the preference form. 

Preference form for AY 24-25 ECON 101 sections is due August 3rd. For questions, please contact econ-undergrad [at] stanford.edu (econ-undergrad[at]stanford[dot]edu).

(B) Senior Honors Thesis

High-achieving students may choose to research and write an honors thesis under the guidance of a faculty advisor.

Students wishing to apply for the Economics Honors Thesis program must meet the following requirements by the fall quarter of their senior year:

• Achieve a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.5 for the units required for the Economics major. Units of ECON 199D or ECON139D do not count in the computation of the GPA requirement for honors. The GPA will be calculated at two points: (1) when the student applies to the honors program, and (2) at the end of the quarter in which the student graduates. If the GPA is below 3.5 at the end of the quarter in which the student graduates, the student will have to drop honors in order to graduate.
• Complete ECON 102B (a core program requirement) and at least two Econ upper division courses relevant to the proposed topic of the honors thesis by the end of junior year.

More information about program requirements and expectations can be found at: https://economics.stanford.edu/undergraduate/honors-program

NOTE: Students must complete at least 5 units of 199D to meet their Writing in the Major (WIM) Requirement. See Writing in the Major section above for more information.