Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Economics

Summary

A Bachelor of Science (BSc) is about understanding and improving the natural world through observation, experimentation, modelling, and calculation. The Bachelor of Science requires a minimum total of 360 points:

• a compulsory 15-point Science course
• a minimum of 255 points of Science courses
• the remaining 90 points can be from either Science courses or courses from other degrees.

At least 225 points must be from courses above 100-level, with at least 90 points at 300-level.

Double degrees

Many students combine the study of a BSc with another degree.

Conjoint degrees

Students can study the Conjoint Bachelor of Product Design and Science or the Conjoint Bachelor of Commerce and Science, which requires 60 points less than a double degree and will be completed in four years in an intensive format.

Economics Major

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.

Further Study

If you have achieved top grades during your Bachelor of Science, you may be permitted to enter the BSc(Hons), which is an accelerated 12-month postgraduate degree.

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.

The increasingly large volume of information available to decision makers has created a demand for people with well-developed quantitative analysis skills, such as those developed in econometrics.

Professional economists are employed to conduct research and give advice on economic matters in various organisations such as government ministries and state-owned enterprises (eg, Treasury, Health, Social Development, Agriculture and Forestry, and Foreign Affairs and Trade). Graduates also find work in marketing organisations, the Reserve Bank, Statistics New Zealand, trading and merchant banks, stock broking, insurance, trade commissions, local authorities, market research and other consultancies, and large businesses.

Those who are passionate about economics and education can also go on to teaching careers in schools or universities.