Close Encounters of the Economics Department

Size matters.

The student-faculty ratio at the University of Mississippi is 19:1 and the school has 47.4 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students, according to U.S. News Rankings. 

“A difference that is kind of common throughout the university is that you tend to have very small classes here by state school standards,” said John R. Colon, professor of economics. 

The department of economics is one with a smaller faculty and class sizes than many of the other departments at Ole Miss and at other schools.

“If you took a Principles class here, you’d have at most 60 students in class. Where as, if you take a Principles class at the University of Florida, you’d have 2000 students in the class,” said Colon. “You actually get to talk to your professors here.”

Colon currently teaches two classes, one on game theory and one on economics and ethics. There are about 20 students in each class. 

“I can give fairly serious homework every class period and I can actually read what students say and give it back the next class period. It’s possible to grade 40 homeworks in a few days, but it’s not possible to grade 400 homeworks in a few days,” he said. “My students get much more feedback from me probably than a University of Florida student gets from a University of Florida professor.”

Natalia Kolesnikova, assistant professor of economics, also commented on the class sizes among the department.

“It’s not necessarily better than other places, but I think one thing that’s different is that we are a much smaller department so we kind of have closer relationships with our students,” she said. “You have access to your professors so you don’t get lost.”

If students are looking for a more intimate economic experience, the department of economics at Ole Miss is probably a good start.