2025 ACE Conference: Economics as Faithful Stewardship

Hosted by:
The Westmont College Department of Economics and Business

The Association of Christian Economists invites all interested scholars to join us for an academic conference at Westmont College in Santa Barbara California in July 2025. The conference will feature dozens of presentations in concurrent sessions featuring economics research on a variety of topics, as well as plenary lectures by:

Catherine Pakaluk (Catholic University of America)
Craig Gundersen (Baylor University)
Brian Fikkert (Covenant College)

ACE conferences are characterized by generous conversations with friends and colleagues, shared meals, and high-quality research. As such, most of the meals at the conference will be provided through Westmont College and are included in the registration cost. While the window to submit a paper to the conference is closed, we welcome anyone interested in attending the conference and fully participate.

Registration & Lodging

The registration cost is:

ACE Members: $160
Non-Members: $180
Students: $100

The cost of registration includes dinner on Thursday evening, as well as breakfast and lunch on Friday and Saturday. Friday evening will be open for dinner on your own in nearby Santa Barbara. Lodging is not included in the registration price, but some rooms are available on the Westmont campus for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. You can directly reserve these rooms as a part of your registration for a discounted rate of $175 per night (tax inclusive).” There are a few of these rooms that have a single Queen-sized bed. Many of the rooms are “double” rooms with two twin beds. These can be easily shared by two adults. Any room-sharing arrangements, however, are the responsibility of the participants. If participants have arranged to share a room, only one should make a room reservation.

Conference participants may also seek out lodging in nearby Santa Barbara, which has many hotels. In most cases, these rooms will be more expensive, however, and the conference will not provide transportation to/from local hotels.

Closest airports:

Santa Barbara Airport located at 500 James Fowler Road, Santa Barbara, CA  93117 (23 minute drive)
Los Angeles Airport located at 1 World Way, Los Angeles, CA  90045 (1 hour 54 minute drive)

Transportation Options:

From Santa Barbara Airport:
Airport shuttle, taxi, and limo listing, http://ground transportation listing

From LAX to Santa Barbara:
Santa Barbara Airbus (approximately $60 one-way)

Questions? Send any inquiries to [email protected].

Location: Westmont College, set in beautiful Santa Barbara California, is a perfect setting to gather for good conversation with friends. The college is set on a hill close to the ocean and the city.