The honors program challenges students of exceptional achievement to do extended original research during senior year. Honors students usually spend the first term of their senior year engaged in research and the second term writing and revising their papers. The final step in the process is an oral examination conducted by the adviser and two other examiners. Successful completion of an honors project is noted on the student's transcript following graduation.

2012

Devon Kristiansen 
“Does Information Lead to Household Electricity Conservation?” 

Rosamond Mate 
“What Factors Influence a Consumer’s Decision to Purchase Energy Star Appliances?”

Yan Huang 
“How does the U.S. stock market affect the stocks of Chinese state-owned companies?”

Adam Freedman 
“Mud on Your Face, Big Disgrace vs. the Wisdom of Crowds: Macroforecasters' Herding Behavior Over Time” 

Jose Ricardo Rubio 
“How has the Introduction of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Affected the Dynamics Between HIV and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa?” 

Molly Frean 
“What is the Optimal Subsidy for Exercise? Informing Health Insurance Companies’ Fitness Reimbursement Programs” 

Wanyi Li 
“Does School Quality Affect Real Estate Prices? The Effect of Top-Tier Elementary Schools on Property Prices in Shanghai” 

Evan Hewitt
“An Empirical Examination of Market Efficiency Surrounding Hurricanes” 

Lauren Martinez 
“The Country-Specific Nature of Apparel Elasticities and Impacts of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement”

Qianyi Yang 
“U.S. Monetary Policy Announcements and Foreign Exchange Market Behavior” 

2011

Jimerson j. Asencio Ferrufino
What is the effect of trade on the gender wage gap in the Mexican manufacturing sector?,
Minnesota Economics Association Award, First Place

Needham B. Hurst
How Does Light Rail Transit Affect Urban Land Use?
Minnesota Economics Association Award, Second Place

Benjamin Langworthy
The effects of parental migration on child nutrition,

Elizabeth K. Vermann
How Do 100% Smoke-Free Bans Affect Smoking Behavior?,

Nina Wellander
How Does Average Protein Consumption Affect Happiness?,

2010

Alice M. Anigacz
Are Residents Who Are Displaced by Gentrification Better or Worse Off After Relocating?
Joseph Glatman Zaretsky 
Are Major League Baseball Starting Pitchers Compensated for Stadium Risk?
Erica B. Graboyes
What is the Effect of Product Market Competition on Chief Executive Officer Compensation?
Simeng Han
How valuable is a firm’s patent? A New approach from Patent Citations Data
Rudy Herrera Mármol 
The Effects of Returns to Education on the Decision to Stay or to Leave Secondary School?: An Empirical Study of Brazil
Zachary McDade 
Are Conditions on Cash Transfers Necessary to Improve Rural Education Outcomes? Evidence from Nicaragua
Iryna Postolovska 
What is the Impact of Income on the Demand for Bushmeat?: a study of the relationship between income and bushmeat near the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania
Jeremy Roth 
How Does Income Inequality Affect the Growth of U.S. Counties?
Hao Zou 
Did the Electronic Trading System Make the Foreign Exchange Market More Efficient?

2009

Todd Copenhaver
Does NBA Attendance Respond to Increased Offensive Quality and Production?
Benjamin Torres Galick
Does Unemployment Decrease Cancer Mortality?
Jayant Gokhale
Why Do Macroeconomic Forecasters Forecast Inaccurately?
Colin Hottman
Does Violent Crime Cause Individuals To Join Gangs?
Yuen Ting Liu 
Does Sorting make a difference in the SAT’s prediction of Course Grades and Cumulative GPA at Macalester College?
Nick A. Marchio
Are credit unions in Ecuador achieving economies of scale?
Maximilian Sirianni 
Vertical Integration and Wage Inequality in Mexico in the NAFTA Era
Cael Warren 
Globalization and the Wage-Working Conditions Relationship: A Case Study of Cambodian Garment Factories
Keaton C. White 
Is There Country-of-Origin Bias in the Video Game Market?