With the completion of the 2002-2003 academic year, the Boston College Department of Economics marks its fiftieth year of doctoral studies. The inaugural doctoral programs in economics, education and history were established in the academic year 1952—1953. As the July, 1993 BC•EC stated, 166 doctoral degrees in economics were granted in the 1953—1993 period: an average just over four per year. In the fifth decade of the doctoral program's existence, an additional 64 degrees were granted: an average of five per year during 1994—1998, and 7.8 per year over the most recent quinquennium.