Majors & Minors
- Electives by Interest
- Honors Program
- Minors
- Career Paths
- Program FAQs
- Double Majors
Contact your College, regarding the Quarter Limitation policy. If you have 150+ units, any major change requires Department and College Approval, when submitting a Major Change Request in the Major/Minor Tool on TritonLink.
Math 10ABC will fulfill major requirements. The Department of Economics recommends the Math 20ABC for all its majors. Some upper-division Economics elective courses require the Math 20ABC series. The Department of Economics strictly enforces all prerequisites, so check course descriptions and prerequisites, prior to enrolling in Economics courses.
Both the Department of Economics and the Rady School of Management have posted temporary P/NP policy allowances for courses taken during SP20, FA20, WI21 and SP21, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. If courses were taken P/NP during those quarters, they will be accepted (per each unit's posted allowances).
Department of Economics:
https://economics.ucsd.edu/undergraduate-program/COVID-19%20Updates.html
Rady School of Management:
https://rady.ucsd.edu/programs/undergraduate-programs/Courses-Programs-and-Advising/
Students cannot major in Business Economics and minor in Business. If you are interested in changing your major to Business Economics, you must drop the Business minor. Please see the Business Economics major requirements on this website to see what courses you can use from your minor.
The Business Economics minor is open to all students, except those with the following majors: Economics (EN25), Management Science (EN26), Joint Mathematics-Economics (EN28, MA33), International Studies-Economics (IS26), and Business Economics (EN30)
Yes. Students are now able to declare the major. New students will need to enroll in courses, before being able to submit a Major Change Request, using the Major/Minor Tool in TritonLink.
All classes taken to meet major requirements must be taken for a letter grade. This applies to both upper and lower division requirements; all required Math classes, MGT classes and required ECON classes.
The only exception to this rule is ECON 195, 198, and 199 which are only offered with the pass/no pass grading option. No more than 12 units total of these classes may be applied towards your major; no more than eight units of ECON 195 may be applied.
We do understand that sometimes life happens and there are situations where a P/NP grading option is needed; if this is the case, we will accept a major requirement class taken for P/NP but the student must fill out an undergraduate petition asking for an exception. As a consequence, students will need to take an additional class for each class they took P/NP (levels of classes below).
Course taken for P/NP | Additional Course student must now take: |
ECON 1, ECON 3, or ECON 4 | Standard Upper-Division Elective |
ECON 100A (or any UD core course) | Advanced Upper-Division Elective |
MATH A-C | Standard Upper-Division Elective |
MATH 18 (20F) | Advanced Upper-Division Elective |
Transfers between the Math 10 and Math 20 sequences are possible, but such transfers should be carefully discussed with a Math advisor. Students who begin the Math 10 sequence and who wish to transfer to the Math 20 sequence may follow one of three paths:
Credit is not given for courses taken simultaneously from the Math 10 and the Math 20 sequence. If you have any questions about these paths, please contact the Math Advising Office.
Effective FA19 all majors in the Department of Economics are no longer capped. To become one of our majors, students simply need to select the major using the Major/Minor Tool on TritonLink.
Students with a bachelor's degree should consider applying to graduate programs. Please contact the Office of Graduate Studies for information on graduate programs offered at UC San Diego.
Can I take classes after receiving my undergraduate degree?
No. Once you have received your degree, your undergraduate record is officially closed. You can take UC San Diego Summer Session courses, but these appear on a separate record and are not included with your undergraduate work. You can also take UC San Diego Extension courses because they maintain their own student records.
Yes. The Department of Economics has residency requirements for each major.
To receive a bachelor of arts degree in Economics (EN25), no more than four upper-division courses taken externally from UC San Diego can be counted toward the major.
To receive a bachelor of science degree in Management Science (EN26), no more than six upper-division courses taken externally from UC San Diego can be counted toward the major.
To receive a bachelor of science degree in Joint Mathematics-Economics (EN28), no more than three upper-division courses taken externally from UC San Diego can be counted toward the major.
To receive a bachelor of science degree in Business Economics (EN30), no more than one upper division Economics course and one upper division Rady School course may be taken externally from UC San Diego and be counted toward the major.
The Department of Economics traditionally reviewed online courses by exception only, but in response to COVID-19, beginning in SP20, the Department will accept online courses, as long as the content is appropriate and equivalent to UC San Diego Economics courses.
If the course(s) does not appear in an articulation agreement with the California Community College system, please file an undergraduate petition, with supporting documentation (syllabus, list of texts, notes, exams, if available) for review by the Department of Economics. Submit it to one of the Economics advisors in via our online platform. You must be logged in to your UCSD Google Account.
You are able to take classes for our two minors pass/no pass. There are some things to be aware of when choosing your grading option:
View a sample filled out petition (PDF).
The Quantitative Economics and Decision Sciences (QEDS) Major was offered by the UCSD Economics Department beginning in 1987 and ending with the 1994 entering class. It was a variant of the Economics Major that stressed microeconomic decisionmaking. The required coursework focused on the theory of the firm and the mathematical and statistical tools used for economic decisionmaking. Differences between the Economics and QEDS Majors are listed below.