The UW-Madison Department of Economics is currently struggling to provide economics majors with the classes needed to graduate and prospective students with necessary resources.
The number of people who are interested in getting an economics degree has exploded over the past 10 years, and that has happened at a time when we have had constrained resources,"" said Gary Sandefur, dean of the College of Letters & Science.
UW-Madison junior Brian Wood is one of several economics students who complained that limited class space has kept him here longer than expected.
""I came in with 25 credits - most of them in economics - so I could have gotten out in three years, but because of the availability I have had to take on another major to fill up space with classes,"" Wood said.
Some students worry they will need to stay at UW-Madison more than four years in order to fulfill their degree.
""I work every summer to pay off my tuition,"" said Wes Patoka, an economics major and UW-Madison sophomore. ""Seeing tuition rise as it is, having to stay an extra year or two would be detrimental to a lot of students' finances - especially those taking out student loans.""
Although it may seem like an inevitable downfall, Sandefur said the department aims to be as accommodating as possible.
""As far as I know, there is no one who has had to stay an extra semester to get an economics degree,"" Sandefur said. ""We try to make sure people get the classes they need to finish.""
According to Sandefur, economics is not the only major that has had trouble providing students with required classes.
""There are other areas where we have to scramble to provide enough space, such as Spanish, psychology, political science, journalism and social work,"" Sandefur said.
Though class overflow impacted the path of Wood's education, he said his double major in finance and economics will help his future career.
""In the end, it has kind of helped me out because [the] double major will look better on a résumé, but I could have gotten out in three years with just an economics major,"" Wood said.
