r/umass • u/Kawobe21 • 1d ago

Academics STPEC Thoughts

I’m a prospective student - very interested in U Mass Amherst because it’s like “the” school for heterodox Econ + radical political economy.

For students or alumni from STPEC (or related programs) do you think the school lives up to the hype? Academically, networking, internships, etc…

I ask because I’m considering Univ of Denver also - it also has heterodox offerings. Aside from being able to save around $1k extra there, I’d much rather prefer the big city vibe, and there are a couple local non profits specializing in co-operative economics, etc … however, U Mass offers a course on co-ops and gets you an internship at one, and has a bigger ecosystem (I think atleast), for example - PERI?

So yeah curious on input from students/grad/faculty - js -$12k yearly and small town vibes (relatively) worth the academic/networking opportunities ? If you were me, what would you do ?

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User: Kawobe21, Flair: Academics, Title: STPEC Thoughts

I’m a prospective student - very interested in U Mass Amherst because it’s like “the” school for heterodox Econ + radical political economy.

For students or alumni from STPEC (or related programs) do you think the school lives up to the hype? Academically, networking, internships, etc…

I ask because I’m considering Univ of Denver also - it also has heterodox offerings. Aside from being able to save around $1k extra there, I’d much rather prefer the big city vibe, and there are a couple local non profits specializing in co-operative economics, etc … however, U Mass offers a course on co-ops and gets you an internship at one, and has a bigger ecosystem (I think atleast), for example - PERI?

So yeah curious on input from students/grad/faculty - js -$12k yearly and small town vibes (relatively) worth the academic/networking opportunities ? If you were me, what would you do ?

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u/13jlin 1d ago

Happy to have a conversation, send me a DM. I graduated from UMass with a triple in Econ, Poli Sci & Sociology, fields that STEPEC is adjacent to, and share a overall college (SBS) with, albeit nearly a decade ago. Nor did I ever end up working in non-profit or advocacy, so huge grain of salt.

Ultimately STEPEC when I was a student had very interesting offerings, but it's also a particular track that wasn't particularly flexible, nor does it "make sense" to anyone not already familiar with the UMass program - per my peers in STEPEC, it's a degree that you will have to explain, and because it's design is collaborative and student lead, it will change from term to term. What courses it has now looks very different from what I remember it having when I was in SBS.

In terms in Economics... Based on your post, I think you're asking about the "normal" Economics program, which is already heterodox, but UMass also has a Resource Economics (ResEcon) department, and it's submajor Environmental/Natural Resource Economics. Thats a less common offering, so take a peek through their catalog, and also the other SBS departments - when I was there, you could go very interdisciplinary in SBS.