UPDATE: On May 11, 2012, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security added several fields of study to the list of CIP codes that now qualify for the 17-month extension of initial 12 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT). The new list of  majors – and their corresponding CIP codes – that qualify for the extension (updated in May 2012) include:

45.0603 Econometrics and Quantitative Economics
51.2007 Pharmacoeconomics/Pharmaceutical Economics

For more info visit:
http://www.bu.edu/isso/students/current/f1/employment/off-campus/17MonthExt.html

The list of fields included is shown here.
http://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/stem-list.pdf

Unfortunately the BU Economics program majors do not fit exactly into these areas, so this extension does NOT immediately apply to BU graduates. BU ISSO is working on it though. I apologize that my earlier post was more encouraging.