Program details and sample curriculum

Prepare to Make a Difference in Rural Communities

The Community Economic Development major equips students with the skills to address critical economic challenges in rural areas. Whether working with local, state, or federal governments or collaborating with non-governmental organizations, graduates are prepared to drive meaningful change. The program covers key topics such as rural job creation, labor market dynamics, agricultural development, land-use planning, and the complex relationship between economic growth and sustainability. 

Jamie Testa ‘27

“I chose the community economic development major because it offers the chance to develop a new framework for looking at the world around me.”

Examples of common core and major requirement classes

• Foundations of Agribusiness: Introduction to the primary management tools as they relate to farm production enterprises and agribusinesses.
• Agricultural Production and Consumption Economics: Focuses on the economic principles of production, applications to decision-making and the allocation of resources for an agricultural firm, in addition to consumer behavior and demand for agricultural products.
• Agricultural Law: Legal problems of farm and agribusiness management. Practical application of principles of contracts, negligence, debt instruments, and commercial transactions of the farm and agribusiness organization.    
• Economics of Poverty and Discrimination: Poverty and inequality in the United States and around the world. Sources of poverty. Antipoverty policies. Definition, empirical evidence, and causes of discrimination. Emphasis on ethical human behavior and policy analysis.
• Rural and Regional Development Policy: 
• Description of rural areas, their economic structure, and conditions for broad-based economic development. Emphasis on the role of markets in the development process. Introduction to tools to evaluate policies and programs, identify distributional impacts, identify appropriateness for long-term sustainable development, and analyze tradeoffs between policy goals.

Sample curriculum

TOTAL Credits = 120 credits
Undergraduate Catalog Course Descriptions
Individual programs depend on transfer credits, if applicable