List of top 10 best colleges in India to study Economics

“Economics is everywhere, and understanding economics can help you make better decisions and lead a happier life”                                                                                                                                                                                 By Tyler Cowen

Ever wondered what should the government do to cut the budget deficit; what should a  business do to raise profit margins? This is what economics teaches you, of how to make well-informed decisions. How can you make decisions without having the knowledge of the economy?

It helps you develop awareness of the financial structure of the world. It creates an understanding of how the business works, how to analyse the market for making correct decisions.

Bachelors of Arts Honours in Economics is a three-year full-time undergraduate course offered in various colleges of India. B.A.(Hons.) basically is a degree which focusses on production, distribution, conservation of the limited resources available.

Top colleges to pursue Bachelors in Economics

1. Shri Ram College of Commerce

Shri Ram College of Commerce is a reputed college affiliated from Delhi University. It was established in 1920 by an Industrialist, Educationist, Philanthropist- Sir Shri Ram. SRCC offers both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Commerce and Economics. The courses offered are B.A. (Hons.) Economics, B.Com (Hons.), M.Com and M.A. Economics. Apart from these, SRCC also offers postgraduate diploma in Global Business Operations. The admissions for SRCC are purely based on merit. It is known for its academic excellence, infrastructure, and great faculty. Recruiters from different fields such as banking, finance, insurance visit the college. The Admission process involves registration to the online portal. The students are required to meet the cutoffs according to their categories.

The facilities also include accommodation for boys and girls along with big mess and common rooms for the students; Labs, swimming pool, medical facilities, gym etc are also provided.

Website- http://www.srcc.edu/

2. St. Stephens College

St. Stephens College is the oldest college located in Delhi established in 1881. It’s an A Graded college accredited by NAAC. It offers various undergraduate and postgraduate programs such as B.A, B.Sc, M.A, M.Sc with departments of Chemistry, English, Computer Science, Physics, Economics, History, Hindi, Political Science, Philosophy, Sanskrit and Physical Education. Many students have been placed with very good packages through the advanced placement cell of the college. They also offer scholarships to students through Delhi University. The Admission process is entirely based on the results of their prior examination.

Website- http://www.ststephens.edu/

3. Lady Shri Ram College

Lady Shree Ram College is a college for women located in South Delhi. In today’s time, it is considered one of the top-ranked institutions for Humanities, Social Science and Commerce. This college has been ranked 1st in Arts Education, 2nd in Commerce Education and 3rd in Mass Communication Education. The course that is offered in the Department of Economics is B.A. (Hons.) Economics. LSR only offers undergraduate courses and not postgraduate. There are many scholarships that have been received by the students due to their excellent performance in academics. The Admission process involves an entrance examination as well as merit-based admission.

Website- http://www.lsr.edu.in/

4. Miranda House

Miranda House is a college affiliated from Delhi University and accredited by UGC. It is located at DU’s North Campus established in 1948. It is one of the top-ranked colleges of India. It has been ‘A’ Grade accredited college by NAAC. It has also been accredited by NIRF as Rank 1. It offers courses in the fields of Arts and Science. The Department of Economics offers B.A.(Hons.) Economics and M.A in Economics courses. The Admission process is entirely based upon merit. The cutoffs release at their respective period after the exams by Delhi University accordingly.

Website- http://www.mirandahouse.ac.in/

5. St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata

St. Xavier’s college is a private college, established in 1860 by a Catholic Minority Religious body. It is affiliated to Calcutta University. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the field of Arts, Commerce, and Science with various specialisations. It also offers Ph.D. in Commerce. The Admission process involves an entrance test followed by the Counselling procedure. The application for all undergraduate and postgraduate courses starts in May and goes on till June. The college offers B.Sc in economics for the students who are likely to pursue economics as their career. They do not offer any postgraduate degree in Economics.

Website: http://www.sxccal.edu/default.htm

6. Loyola College, Chennai

Loyola College is an autonomous college for Men, affiliated to the University of Madras, was established in 1925 by the Society of Jesus. Since it was awarded as College of Excellence for best practicing in Teaching an Research, it is one of the top colleges in India. This college offers 19 PG Courses and 19 UG courses. They offer B.A (Hons.) Economics and M.A. in Economics. Loyola College has been awarded as “The Best Men’s College on the Employability skills”. More than 100 companies visit the campus for hiring talented aspirants. This college has a record of 100% placement each year. The Admission process involves registering on the online website and the selected candidates are informed for the interview along with their parents.

Website: http://www.loyolacollege.edu/

7. Christ University, Bangalore

Christ University was established in 1969. The university is recognised by UGC and accredited ‘A’ by NAAC. It became an autonomous institute in 2004 and was declared as ‘Deemed to be University’ in 2008. It has three campuses in Bangalore. Christ University offers a combined course for economics which are:

• Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Political Science, Sociology
• Bachelor of Arts in History, Economics, Political Science.
• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Sociology, Economics.
• Bachelor of Science in Economics, Mathematics, Statistics.

Christ University offers M.Phil in Economics as a specialised postgraduate degree and offers Ph.D. in Economics. The university conducts many placement activities for the enhancement of skills for better placements.

Website: http://www.christuniversity.in/

8. Presidency University, Kolkata

Presidency University formerly known as Hindu college is a public state University situated in Kolkata. It is considered the best college for art and science. It was declared a University in 2010 before it was affiliated to Calcutta University. The first achievement as a university for this college was an A rating through NAAC. It also appeared in the top 50 list of NIRF in 2016. It offers admission various undergraduate and postgraduate courses through an entrance examination conducted by West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board (WBJEEB). It offers B.Sc in Economics and M.Sc in Applied Econometry. The University conducts PUBDET(Presidency University Bachelor’s Degree Entrance Test) for the undergraduate courses and PUMDET (Presidency University Master’s Degree Entrance Test) for the postgraduate courses.

Website:http://presiuniv.ac.in/web/

9. Madras Christian College, Chennai

Madras Christian College was established in 1837. This college is known for its academic standing. It is ranked among the top 10 colleges for arts and science also received an ‘A’ Grade from NAAC. It offers various courses for different streams. It offers B.A. in Economics and M.A. in Economics. Many companies visit the college and recruit student according to their need. The Admission process is entirely based on the results of the student’s prior examination. There is no entrance test for economics, neither for undergraduate nor for postgraduate.

Website: https://www.mcc.edu.in/

10. Hindu College

Hindu College is considered one of the esteem institutions in the country. It was founded in the year 1899. It is affiliated from Delhi University. Hindu college is the most top-ranked college in India for Humanities, Science, and Commerce. It offers many undergraduate and postgraduate courses in various fields. The Admission process is purely based on merit. It has been ranked 7th by The India Today for Top Best Colleges in Commerce, and 5th best in Arts. It offers Bachelors of Arts(Honours) in Economics.

Website: http://www.hinducollege.ac.in/

Top Colleges to pursue Masters in Economics

1. Delhi School of Economics

The Delhi School of Economics was established in 1949 with the Professor V.K.R.V. Rao as its founder and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as the President. It’s an institution which is inclined towards research and teaching in economics, also alley areas with social science as well. It consists of three departments namely Department of Economics, Department of Geography, and the Department of Sociology. It offers various courses, B.A.(Hons.) Economics, B.A.(Programme), M.Phil/Ph.D., M.A. Economics. The Admission process is purely based on merit.

Website: http://dse.du.ac.in/

2. Indian Statistical Institute

Indian Statistical is an institute which is devoted to research, teaching, and application of Statistics, social sciences. It was founded by Professor P.S Mahalanobis in Kolkata. It was established on 17th December 1931. It offers courses namely M.S. in Quantitative Economics and Masters of Statistics. The Admission procedure is based on the results of the prior examinations or bachelor’s degree.

Website: https://www.isid.ac.in/

3. Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research

Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research is a research institute funded by Reserve Bank of India for carrying out the research and development activities. It was registered as an autonomous society on November 14, 1986. On December 28, it was inaugurated by Late Rajiv Gandhi. Subsequently, it was recognised as a deemed university. It offers courses such as M.Sc. Economics and M.Phil and Ph.D. in Development Studies. The admission procedure involves an online test separate for both courses and an interview.

Website: http://www.igidr.ac.in/

4. Madras School of Economics

Madras School of Economics is an institution of higher education in economics, located in Chennai. It was founded in 1995 as a private postgraduate institution for research and teaching of economics. It offers two-year postgraduate programs in General Economics, Financial Economics, Applied Quantitative Finance, Actuarial Economics and Environmental Economics affiliated to the Central University of Tamil Nadu, it also offers a Ph.D. program which is affiliated from the University of Madras. The Admission procedure involves an Entrance test; CUCET( Common Universities Common Entrance Test), the results of this exam decides the further admission of the applicant.

Website: http://www.mse.ac.in/

5. Centre of Development Studies, Kerela

The Centre of Development Studies is an autonomous research center developed by the Government of Kerela and the Indian Council of Social Science Research. It was established on October 19, 1970. CDS is internationally known for its research in applied economics. It is affiliated from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. It offers M.A, M.Phil, Ph.D. in Applied Economics. The admission procedure is based on the entrance test which is followed by the interview.

Website: http://www.cds.edu/

6. Gokhale Institue of Politics and Economics

Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics is a research and training institute of economics. It was founded in 1930 by R.R. Kale. It is accredited with an ‘A’ by NAAC. It offers Ph.D. and M.Sc. in various fields namely M.Sc. Economics, Agribusiness Economics, Financial Economics, International Economics. The Admission procedure involves an entrance test namely GIPE Entrance Examination which needs to be filled online.

Website: http://www.gipe.ac.in/index.php

7. Hyderabad School of Economics

The Hyderabad School of Economics is a part of the University of Hyderabad, which was founded in 1974  with Professor Gurbaksh Singh as its Vice-Chancellor it is devoted towards training and research of economics. It offers various course such as M.A, M.Phil., Ph.D. For all the programs there is a test which the candidate needs to qualify, for M.A admission, there is only a written test, while in M.Phil and P.h.D., there is an oral as well as written test.

Website: https://www.uohyd.ac.in/

8. Jamia Milia Islamia

Jamia Milia Islamia is  Public Central University, it has been established in 1925. It has been accredited ‘A’ by NAAC. It has been a placed at 6th position in the NIRF 2017. Jamia Milia Islamia offers various undergraduate and postgraduate courses, along with M.Phil. and Ph.D.. It offers B.A.(Hons.) and M.A. in Economics. The admission is based upon the entrance test conducted by the college.

Website: https://www.jmi.ac.in/

10. School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University

School of Social Sciences was established in  1970, this school has the largest faculty in the university. M.A level education is imparted in five disciplines which are Economics, History, Political Science, Geography and Sociology.

The School of Social Sciences has 12 centers in total. The admission process for M.A. Economics involves an entrance test named JNUET collaborated by NTA. Candidates who wish to seek admission to the different programmes must check the JNU eligibility criteria.

Website: https://www.jnu.ac.in/sss

These institutes are the ones generally applied for by the students who desire to pursue masters in economics from India.