The PPE Program

The UNC PPE Program attracts intellectually curious students who appreciate the importance of combining rigorous academic analysis with a principled and comprehensive understanding. We offer  a minor, and is mirrored, at Duke, by a certificate program structured around the same educational goals and program requirements. Since its foundation, the PPE program has been especially popular with students who are eager to challenge themselves and are concerned to understand the forces that work to shape our social and political environment.

The PPE Minor requires five courses: a PPE Gateway course, one course in each of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (each to be taken from our approved list of courses), and then, usually in one’s senior year, a PPE Capstone. Seminar. Most of these courses satisfy General Education requirements and, taken together, their value is much greater than the sum of their parts.

The faculty who are active in the program work hard both to assure the quality of the program and to afford students extensive opportunities for close interaction with their peers and teachers. For a detailed description of the program requirements, see Courses.

Students interested in PPE also run the Philosophy, Politics & Economics Society @ Carolina, a university-recognized student organization and local chapter of the international PPE Society. For more info, please fill out this form, visit the PPES@C page on HeelLife, or contact us at ppeprogram@unc.edu.