2025 Best Economics Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Economics is of the hottest doctor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #24 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Economics Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 76 doctor's degrees in economics during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on economics students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of economics students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for economics to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized economics related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for economics students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Economics Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Economics in the Southwest Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in economics.

Top Southwest Region Schools for a Doctorate in Economics

1

Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX

11 Annual Graduates

Texas A&M University - College Station is a great option for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in economics. Located in the medium-sized city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in economics from Texas A&M University - College Station

2

The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

16 Annual Graduates

The University of Texas at Austin is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in economics. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in economics from The University of Texas at Austin

Best Economics Colleges by State

Explore the best economics colleges for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	165	42
Arizona	119	13
Oklahoma	92	6
New Mexico	59	4

View All Rankings >

Economics Related Rankings by Major

Economics is one of 13 different types of Social Sciences programs to choose from.

Economics Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Econometrics & Quantitative Economics	57
General Economics	18
Development Economics & International Development	1

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Political Science & Government	82
Sociology	47
Anthropology	39
Geography & Cartography	28
Demography & Population Studies	6

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to pixabay. More about our data sources and methodologies.