Apply what you learn in internships, network with successful alumni and find a meaningful job
Our student-centric approach and collaborative, friendly environment provide a healthy blend of quantitative analysis and economic theory with practical application in the marketplace. Our students gain information and expertise that make them better contributors and communicators and prepare them for fascinating and gratifying business careers. They work closely with professors and explore the often-challenging intersection of faith, learning and business. Successful Westmont alumni provide our students with valuable networking, internships and mentoring, helping them discover, develop and use their Godgiven talents. Our graduates have become leaders in a wide range of industries worldwide, from Fortune 500 companies to Silicon Valley start-ups to non-profit organizations.
Launch Your Business and Make a Difference in the World
Colleges of Distinction
The 2025-2026 Business College of Distinction is awarded to Westmont’s undergraduate business program, which balances classroom theory with real-world application, preparing graduates to lead with confidence, integrity and agility.
Alumni Stories
Jacob Ibrahim ’20 graduated summa cum laude from Westmont with a BA in Economics and Business and was named Outstanding Senior. He earned his Juris Doctor and Business Law Certificate from USC Gould School of Law. Jacob is now an associate at Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles, specializing in Banking & Private Credit.
Jared Huff ’21 graduated with a 4.0 GPA and was recognized for his outstanding performance as an Economics and Business major. He is now pursuing a Juris Doctor at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.
Maggie Hine ’22 received a Faculty Scholarship Award for maintaining a 4.0 GPA while studying at Westmont. She currently works as a Strategic Programs Content Manager at Genesys in Brownsburg, IN.
Alison Thomas ’23 graduated as a First Senior from Westmont where she studied Economics & Business, Chemistry and Music. She currently works as a Complex Securities Valuation Analyst at Deloitte in New York, NY.
Economics and Business Tracks & Requirements
Fall
- EB-003 Accounting (Fall or Spring)
- EB-010 Microeconomics
Spring
- EB-011 Macroeconomics
- EB-080 Principles of Management
- MA-005 Statistics
Fall
- EB-020 Research & Forecasting or
- EB-030 Corporate Finance
Spring
- EB-020 Research & Forecasting or
- EB-030 Corporate Finance
Any remaining lower division requirements
Fall
- EB-102 Intermed Microeconomics
- EB Upper division elective(s)
- Study Abroad: KC-London or AU-Paris
Spring
- EB-137 Intermed Macroeconomics
- EB Upper division elective(s)
- Study Abroad: KCL or AUP
Summer After 3rd Year
- Study Abroad with Int’l Business Institute-Europe (12 units upper division electives)
Fall
- EB Upper division elective(s)
- EB-190/190SS Practicum
- Study Abroad: KC-London or AU-Paris
Spring
- EB Upper division elective(s)
- EB-190/190SS Practicum
- (No study abroad last semester)
Any remaining lower division requirements
Faculty and Staff
Was a CPA with Arthur Anderson and has taught accounting courses at Westmont and UCSB for over 30 years.
Holds over 80 patents around the world for a revolutionary ophthalmic medical device
Is a marketing professor with an emphasis on marketing and artificial intelligence, and won statewide business plan competitions as a student.
Email: adhicks@westmont.edu
Tel: (805) 565-6156
Office: Deane Hall 104
Scheduling
The department requires that students complete all lower division courses during their first two years. These preparatory courses are pre-requisites to the upper division courses completed during their remaining two years of study. Courses are designed to be sequential in developing a cumulative competency through a progression of terminology, models, and concepts that blend theory with applications. Study abroad at King’s College-London or American University-Paris should happen during Third Year (either semester), or Fourth Year (Fall semester only). The IBI program should happen during the summer after Third Year. In addition to the required courses, students take five elective courses.
Career Paths
- Accounting
- Finance
- Marketing
- Social and Capital Entrepreneurship
- Business Development
- Management
- Law
- Sales
- Real Estate
See career paths for graduates who majored or minored in economics and business at Westmont.
Westmont Economics & Business majors have earned graduate degrees from:
- Duke-Fuqua School of Business
- Fuller Theological Seminary
- Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations
- Harvard Business School
- Harvard Law School
- University of California, Irvine
- The London School of Economics & Political Science
- Loyola Law School
- University of Manchester
- University of Notre Dame Law School
- University of Oxford
- University of Oregon
- Pepperdine University School of Law
- Seattle Pacific University
- Sturm College of Law, University of Denver
- USC Marshall School of Business
- USC Gould School of Law
- Stanford Graduate School of Business
- UCLA Anderson School of Management
- University of Chicago-Booth School of Business
- University of Washington School of Law
- University of Washington, Michael G. Foster School of Business
- Wharton-University of Pennsylvania
Eaton Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Fourteen business majors and minors traveled to Port-de-Paix, Haiti, as an extension of their Business at the Bottom of the Pyramid course taught by Rick Ifland, professor of economics and business for Westmont in Haiti. Students spent the fall semester preparing business plans, which launched in Haiti, helping locals kick-start effective business models.
Edd Noell published a chapter, "Smith and the Scholastic Tradition on Markets and Their Moral Rational," in "Theology, Morality and Adam Smith" (Routledge). He published a review of "Divine Providence in Early Modern Economic Thought" in History of Political Economy (Duke University Press).
During a conference in New Orleans for the Southern Economics Association, Dr. Noell presented a paper, “Making a Case for Economic Growth in Light of Economics and Theology: An Assessment of Recent Critiques.”
Professor Rick Ifland, class of 1983, co-founded a company attempting to change the way cataract surgery is performed and received 14 new patents in the past 12 months in the area of opthamology.