You'll get some subject matter information from the teacher that you'll be required to barf back on an exam. That's useless (as is almost every subject matter

You'll get some subject matter information from the teacher that you'll be required to barf back on an exam. That's useless (as is almost every subject matter I studied in college/law school, in my experience. Statistics, a philosophy course in symbolic logic, and calculus excluded.) What you gain (if you're lucky) is the meta-lesson of how to think like an economist. Meaning that you'll understand the reasoning methodologies. This will give you an ability to understand real life in ways that mere mortals cannot/do not. I can't say whether "thinking like an economist" is better or worse. But it will give you perspective and an understanding of how large groups of people behave. Same deal with law school, in my experience. They teach you to think like a laywer. That's the useful part. Hint: If you are trying to figure out an answer, spend your time working out the correct question to ask. Then the answer comes almost trivially. Second hint: law is binary. The answer is either "yes" or "no". Phrase your question to elicit an answer that is "yes" or "no". I'm sure the same holds true for engineering and other disciplines. Yeah sure you'll learn some "stuff" but more important you'll learn how to ask a question and solve a problem. I haven't looked at khanacademy.org's economics stuff. But I'll bet you won't learn the meta-skills there. Go take the class. And demand a lot out of your professor. (Disclaimer: econ major in college.)