<p>Is your goal pre-PhD?</p>
<p>If so, then a strong undergraduate economics program will include substantial math content, and will encourage the students to take additional junior/senior level math and statistics courses that are applicable to the study of economics at the PhD level. Most such economics programs will be found at highly selective schools like Chicago, MIT, etc… However, most economics programs at US universities are less math-oriented, because most economics majors are pre-professional/business and have no need or interest in advanced math.</p>
<p>Regardless of the strength and how math-oriented the economics program is, a pre-PhD student in economics should take junior/senior level math courses like real analysis and proof-based linear algebra, and junior/senior level probability theory and statistics, as these are expected preparation for PhD study in economics.</p>
<p>At much lower levels of admission selectivity, some schools offer large merit scholarships to international students. <a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/howard-us-kathmandu-connection-nepal-emerges-as-top-source-of-foreign-students/2014/08/27/4cd70376-2a20-11e4-958c-268a320a60ce_story.html”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/howard-us-kathmandu-connection-nepal-emerges-as-top-source-of-foreign-students/2014/08/27/4cd70376-2a20-11e4-958c-268a320a60ce_story.html</a> focuses on Howard, but there are four other universities mentioned in it. However, the economics programs are likely be more pre-professional/business and less math-oriented than what is optimal for a pre-PhD student.</p>