Course details

Summary

Economics is the study of how people behave. Every day, people and society are confronted by choices. Should you go to university or start a career? What should you do with your next dollar? Should the government raise the minimum wage, or not? How do we address the big issues in the world such as poverty and climate change?

Choices involve trade-offs where we are choosing between two things. The outcomes of choices have both costs and benefits to consider. Economics is the study of how people and societies make such decisions in the production, exchange, distribution and consumption of goods and services.

Why study Economics at UC?

At UC, students can specialise in Economics or study it alongside other disciplines. As Economics can be studied as part of an Arts, Commerce or Science degree, you can decide which combination suits your personal strengths and interests best. Common combinations include studying Economics with Finance, Political Science and International Relations, Psychology and Mathematics. Students who wish to combine the study of Economics with another business discipline as part of a commerce degree, may be interested in the Business Economics major.

The Department of Economics and Finance operates an internship programme where students can have the opportunity to gain real world experience that enhances the valuable work-ready skills that an Economics degree provides.

Recommended preparation

While previous study of economics is useful preparation, it is not essential to have studied this subject at secondary school.

Students can study Economics without having to take any mathematics. However, students who wish to keep open the option of progressing to postgraduate study in Economics are strongly advised to include calculus, statistics and modelling in their Year 13 programme.

A broad education, including history and English, is useful to develop the ability to write clearly and analyse written material.

Students with very good Year 13 results in economics may be offered direct entry to 200-level Economics courses at the discretion of the Head of Department.

Over the three years of your degree, you will gain critical thinking, creative problem solving, and communication skills that employers want. Unique practical experiences such as internships are on offer too.

The Bachelor of Arts requires a minimum total of 360 points:

• at least 255 points from Arts courses
• the remaining 105 points can be from either Arts courses or courses from other degrees.
• A minimum of 225 points must be from courses above 100-level, with at least 90 points at 300-level.

Double Degrees

It is possible to combine an Arts degree with other degrees such as the Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Criminal Justice, Bachelor of Health Sciences, Bachelor of Laws or Bachelor of Science.

Further study

The College of Arts has a wide range of options for postgraduate and graduate study with excellent research facilities. These include specialised research centres such as the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, Social Science Research Centre, New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies, Te Awatea Violence Research Centre and National Centre for Research on Europe.

Career opportunities

Graduates in Economics find employment in many areas of government and business, where it is recognised that an economist's education provides valuable specialist training for a professional career as well as good general preparation and background for an executive, entrepreneurial or administrative career.

Entry criteria

Admission to UC with University Entrance, or equivalent, is required to enrol for a Bachelor's degree. Applicants must have completed New Zealand University Entrance through NCEA; or Cambridge International Examinations (CIE); or International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) or any other equivalent overseas qualification.

Other English language requirements: TOEFL PBT with a minimum score of 550 and TWE with a minimum score of 4.5; CCEL EAP Level 2 with a minimum C+ grade; CAE or CPE minimum score of 169 with at least 162 in reading, writing, listening and speaking; Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE with an overall score of 57 and no PTE communicative skills score below 50.