Students should always follow the program requirements according to the year they started their degree. For more information please visit Previous UNSW Online Handbooks.
The Bachelor of Economics / Bachelor of Science program enables students to complete a depth of study from the majors available from within UNSW Science and the economics program offered by the School of Economics in the UNSW Business School.

The typical duration of this program is 4 years full-time. For admission to the program, students must satisfy the entry requirements to both the Bachelor of Science and the Bachelor of Economics programs.

With approval, students with an excellent academic record may also enrol in an additional Honours year in the Bachelor of Economics degree or in the Bachelor of Science degree.

For questions regarding the Bachelor of Economics requirements for the program, students should consult staff in the UNSW Business School Student Centre or the School of Economics. For questions relating to the Bachelor of Science component of the program, students should consult the Science Student Centre.

Please refer to the program objectives as listed for the 3970 Bachelor of Science program and the 3543 Bachelor of Economics program.

A total of 192 units of credit is required to complete this dual degree program. Students must satisfy the following requirements for the Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Economics components.

Where the requirements for the two programs are completed in less than 192 units of credit due to overlapping courses, students may satisfy the remaining units of credit from those offered by UNSW Science, UNSW Business School or other Faculties within UNSW.

The requirements of the BEc in dual mode (96UOC):

84 UOC of Economics courses consisting of:

And 12 UOC of Free electives.

Compulsory core courses:

Please note: Bachelor of Science students should note that they are, in most, instances required to complete two Level 1 MATH courses and these meet the requirements for the BEc core quantitative courses ECON1202 and ECON1203.

Students should do the MATH courses which are required in the Bachelor of Science specialisations they choose – for example, the mathematics and statistics specialisations specify MATH1131/MATH1231 or MATH1141/MATH1241 rather than MATH1031/MATH1041. With a few of the BSc specialisations only one MATH course is required, in which case students can complete the second MATH course or its equivalent ECON course (ECON1202 or ECON1203).

For ECON1202, the substitute courses are: MATH1031 or MATH1131 or MATH1141.

For ECON1203, the substitute courses are: MATH 1041 or MATH1231 or MATH1241.

The ECON courses are not substitutes for these MATH courses. No credit will be given if students also complete the ECON courses.

Students have the option of counting the MATH courses towards the BSc and doing additional electives offered by the School of Economics OR counting the MATH courses towards the BEc and doing additional electives offered by UNSW Science.

ECON1203 may be substituted by PSYC2001 for those students who also do a major in Psychology.

Economics electives – students are required to complete an additional two Economics courses (12 UOC) to complete the requirement for 84 UOC of Economics courses.

Free electives account for the balance (12 UOC) of the degree requirements. These courses may be taken from those offered by the UNSW Business School or other Faculties within UNSW.

Area(s) of Economics Specialisation:

• Econometrics
• Economics
• Financial Economics

Requirements for the Bachelor of Science in dual degree mode (96 UOC):

• An approved major from the Bachelor of Science program; and
• Science elective courses.

Approved Majors in Science:

Please refer to the table of majors listed on the 3970 program page for more information on approved Science majors.

High achieving students should consider applying to the Honours program either in the Bachelor of Science or the Bachelor of Economics.

For further information relating to Honours in these two programs, please see Bachelor of Science program and the School of Economics Honours program website.

BEc Progression Rules

1. A minimum of 24 UOC of courses must be completed before enrolling in Level 2 courses.
2. A minimum of 48 UOC of courses must be completed before enrolling in Level 3 courses.
3. Students must declare their economics major before commencing Year 2.

Academic rules relating to the Bachelor of Science in concurrent mode are as follows:

1. Students must complete a minimum of 96 units of credit;

2. Students must complete at least one approved Bachelor of Science major, and this must be declared before enrolling in level II courses. Details of approved Bachelor of Science majors and how to declare a major can be found on the 3970 Bachelor of Science program page;

3. In addition to the courses required for a student's chosen major, students must take 'science' courses so that the major plus 'science' courses total 96 units of credit. Details of what courses constitute 'science' courses can be found in Table 1 on the 3970 Bachelor of Science program page.

4. Students must complete at least 24 units of credit of science level I courses;

Most majors in the Bachelor of Science already satisfy this requirement, for example, the Microbiology major requires BIOS1101, BABS1201, CHEM1011, CHEM1021 and 6 units of credit of Mathematics. This is a total of 30 units of credit of science level I courses, therefore, no more level I science courses are required. Where a major does not include at least 24 units of credit of science level I courses, students will need to choose additional level I science courses to bring the total to 24 units of credit. For example, Psychology requires PSYC1001 and PSYC1011, therefore, students will need to choose an additional 12 units of credit of science level I courses. These science level I courses count towards the 96 units of credit requirement at rule number 3.

5. No student may commence level II courses until 30 units of credit of level I courses have been successfully completed. (This is 30 units of credit of courses taken towards the entire dual degree and not just courses for the Science component);

6. Students may commence level III courses upon successful completion of 72 units of credit. (This is 72 units of credit of courses taken towards the entire dual degree and not just courses for the Science component).

Students wishing to complete a double major in the Bachelor of Science when taken as part of a dual degree with another degree program at UNSW should be aware that it will be very difficult to complete two majors within 96 units of credit. Therefore where a dual degree student would like to undertake a double major, they should be aware that it may involve extra time and cost to complete, and may have visa implications for international students.

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/fees/FeesMainPage.html

Please note that these requirements may be subject to change. Students should always follow the program requirements according to the year they started their degree. For more information please visit Previous UNSW Online Handbooks

Contact the UNSW Business School Student Centre for advice.
tel: + 61 2 9385 3189
location: Level 1, room 1028, Quadrangle Building
Forms, policies and procedures
Frequently asked questions.

Contact the Science Student Centre for advice on the BSc component:
UNSW Science
e-mail: sso@unsw.edu.au
tel: + 61 2 9385 6125 / 9385 7788
location: Robert Webster Building, Room 128