B.ECON General, 15.0 Credit Program

Program Description

The Department will continue to offer a three-year undergraduate Economics degree program, the Bachelor of Economics (B.ECON.) General program, but entry into this program will be restricted to current Carleton students via internal transfers.

The B.ECON. General program is a 15.0 credit program, designed for students who wish to obtain a solid grounding in Economics at the university-level, but who at the same time prefer to pursue a somewhat abbreviated, less theoretical and less mathematical program than the B.ECON. Honours.

The 3.5-credit core of the B.ECON. General program is essentially the B.ECON Honours core up to its second-half, 2000-level requirements (i.e., excluding ECON 3020 (formerly ECON 2030), ECON 3102 (formerly ECON 2103), ECON 3210 (formerly ECON 2220), and higher-level courses). An additional 3.5 credits in Economics electives (which may include some of the courses in the balance of the B.ECON. Honours core) is also required. Electives not in Economics together with free electives make up the rest of the General program for a total of 15.0 credits.

Students should be clear on their educational objectives before requesting internal transfer into this program. An Honours degree (or equivalent) is normally requirement for students wishing to pursue an M.A. in Economics or a graduate program in other disciplines.

B.ECON 15.0 Credit vs 20.0 Credit Honours

Students in the 15.0 credit program who would like to transition into our 20.0 credit Honour’s program should strongly consider taking the following courses:

• ECON 3020 – Intermediate Microeconomics II: Consumers and General Equilibrium
• ECON 3102 – Intermediate Macroeconomics II
• ECON 3210 – Introductory Econometrics

General Elective Suggestions for First Year ECON Students

Important Information about Electives!

“Free electives” can be taken in any subject, including the subject of the major. The only restrictions when choosing “free electives” are to ensure you’re not taking courses that are prohibited (ie. worth 0.0 credit in an economics degree, such as ECON 2101) and that you are not exceeding the max of 7.0 credits allowed at the 1000-level for the entire degree (including the major and electives sections of your audit).

In contrast, “Electives Not In Economics” must be in subjects other than Economics and again, you need to ensure you’re not exceeding the 1000-level maximum for the degree.

There is a max of 7.0 credits 1000-level courses allowed for the entire degree (including requirements in the major and electives). If students exceed 7.0 credits at the 1000-level, course(s) would be set aside and not count towards the degree. You can check how many courses you’ve taken at the 1000-level on your academic audit.

Students often ask for recommendations about elective courses. Students are in the best position to choose their elective courses based on their own interests, strengths, career goals, learning style, etc.

List of Electives Suggestions:

Important Notes!

This guide includes a year-by-year breakdown of course selection. Please refer back to this information on a regular basis!

Please check notes about the important information per year, as this might affect your registration.

ECON 0005

Students admitted with a conditional offer to the B.Econ (Honours) with an additional requirement in economics, must complete ECON 0005: Preparatory Mathematics for Economics in their first term of study with a minimum grade of C- or higher to be eligible to continue in their current program and continue with courses like ECON 1401: Elementary Mathematics for Economics I in the subsequent term. Students with a conditional offer of admission CANNOT take ECON 1401 concurrently with ECON 0005.

Course Workload

To complete the Honour’s program, you must earn 20 credits. Students have the flexibility to manage their course load as they see fit. However, if you choose to drop a required course—whether it’s an elective, a core course, or a concentration elective—you will still need to complete it later or fulfill the equivalent requirement to meet your degree requirements.

This is why it is imperative to regularly check your audit and see if you are meeting yearly requirements.

If you are thinking of changing your major, minor or specialization, the ‘what-if’ audit can be very beneficial for you. It will help you see how your audit will change once you switch your program elements. This is a useful tool in determining where your previous courses would count in the new degree to see if you are on the right track towards graduation.

The Academic Advising Centre has all the information you would need on their website.

When to Complete Electives

Our department strongly recommends prioritizing the core courses and concentration courses required for completing your Honour’s program degree over taking electives. Electives should be paired alongside the core and concentration courses.

Minimum Prerequisite Grade

All ECON course outlines list the minimum prerequisite grade required to progress to upper-year level ECON courses. The official listing for ECON courses is posted on the Undergraduate Calendar. The grade required to obtain credit in a course (50% or above, or a letter grade of D-) may be different than the minimum prerequisite grade.

For example, ECON 2210 requires a minimum prerequisite grade of C- to get into most upper level ECON courses such as ECON 3210 (formerly ECON 2220). However, other ECON courses may not have this requirement (such as for ECON 2708, you need a minimum prerequisite grade of C+ in ECON 2210). Elective courses outside ECON may have their own requirements.

Students may be de-registered from course(s) if they are not meeting the minimum prerequisite grade.

Our department runs prerequisite checks every semester. This means we check to see that students are correctly registered in their courses and fulfilling the necessary requirements. If you are not, you may be deregistered in the course you were previously registered in.

• If you defer a final exam that is in sequence to a subsequent course, you may be deregistered in the subsequent course.
  • For example, if you are currently registered in ECON 1401 and defer the final exam, if you do not have a passing grade (not including the final exam grade) at that point in the course, you may be deregistered in ECON 1402.
• Prerequisite grades determine access to other courses. However, students may need to achieve higher grades to be eligible to continue in their program. For more information about the Academic Continuation Evaluation (ACE) and CGPA requirements for graduation, students should contact the Academic Advising Centre.

Pursuing an MA in Economics

Students in Carleton’s undergraduate economics programs who are interested in pursuing our MA in Economics prepare by taking the courses listed below with minimum grades of B+ or higher. If these courses (or equivalents from your university) have not been completed with minimum grades in the B+ range or higher or are not in progress by the time an MA application is submitted, the applicant may be required to complete or repeat any or all of the courses listed below which may be included in an offer of admission to Carleton’s Extended Masters in Economics (EMA), providing the applicant is meeting the other admission criteria, including the B+ CGPA requirement, calculated using a student’s grades in their last 20 courses completed.

• ECON 3001 – Mathematical Methods of Economics
• ECON 4001 – Mathematical Analysis in Economics
• ECON 4002 – Statistical Analysis in Economics
• ECON 4020 – Advanced Microeconomic Theory
• ECON 4021 – Advanced Macroeconomic Theory
• ECON 4706 – Econometrics I

Students Admitted After Fall 2025

The following courses have been changed in sequence with the Honour’s Program for Fall 2025 and onward:

• ECON 2900 (formerly ECON 3920) – Professional Practice in Economics
• ECON 3020 (formerly ECON 2030) – Intermediate Microeconomics II: Consumers and General Equilibrium
• ECON 3102 (formerly ECON 2103) – Intermediate Macroeconomics II
• ECON 3210 (formerly ECON 2220) – Introductory Econometrics

Suggested Course Plan – B.ECON 15.0 Credit General Program