Ben Koos

A career as an economist can be both rewarding and lucrative, but requires a high level of technical skills and knowledge.

Ben Koos knew his undergraduate degree in economics was a good start, but not enough to launch a career in the field. So he decided to pursue an MS Economics degree at Cal Poly, a place where he knew he could get the econometric and data science skillset needed to land a great job after graduation. And it worked.

“The course work was exactly what I wanted from an MS Economics program,” he says. The one-on- one attention from faculty was also a huge benefit. “Working with professors on research projects was a unique experience that gave me valuable hands-on experience working with data and applying the techniques I was learning in class.”

Koos also found strong peer collaboration a unique aspect of the Cal Poly program. “I was surprised by how much fun I had working with friends on difficult assignments and projects. I didn’t expect to find so many extracurricular projects to work on using the skills that I was developing.”

Now a research analyst at an economic consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay Area, Koos credits the program for helping him land his current position. “This is exactly the job I wanted out of college and a big part of the reason I did the MS program.”