Our curriculum

With the Major Economics you will deepen your knowledge of economics that you acquired during your Assessment Year studies. There are three categories of courses you have to take when majoring in economics: compulsory subjects, core electives, and electives. As a full-time programme, the Major Economics is designed for a standard study period of four semesters. The study time can be extended up to ten semesters. You will acquire a total of 120 ECTS credits.

The semester order in which you can take the courses is only a recommendation and can be changed according to your individual needs. Particularly when planning an exchange study, it may make sense to complete the courses in a different order.

Do you want to study the Major Economics in German or in English? For the most courses, except some of the compulsory ones that are taught in English only, you can decide that for yourself by choosing the appropriate courses. Which ever way, our students are excellently prepared for a career in German- and English-speaking companies or organisations. In addition, you must complete at least 9 ECTS credits in the respective opposite language. 

Foreign languages are important to us. By the time you complete your Bachelor's degree, you will have to provide proof of proficiency in two foreign languages (in addition to your school language). English must be demonstrated at proficiency level C2 (CEFR). You will attend a first foreign language course during the Assessment Year, and learn a second when studying for a chosen major. The range of foreign language courses offered at the University is broad; in addition to European languages, you can take courses in Arabic, Chinese and Japanese at various levels of proffeciency. 

When studying for the Major Economics you will have to take compulsory courses along with core elective and elective courses.

You will take compulsory courses for two semesters to give your studies a clear profile. You will receive subject- and topic-related training in economics and methodology, and gain basic knowledge of business administration. If you complete the compulsory courses in your third and fourth semesters, you are then free to organise the fifth and sixth semesters as you wish and can easily go on an exchange semester. In addition, you will gain valuable insights into current economic topics and learn how to deal with large amounts of data.

The following courses are compulsory and delivered either in class or through self-study. The compulsory courses are offered once a year and are taught in German and English. Exceptions to this are the following three compulsory courses, which are only offered in English:

• 3,230 Data Handling: Import, Cleaning and Visualisation
• 4,220 Data Analytics II: Empirische Wirtschaftsforschung
• 4,212 Macroeconomics III

This course offering corresponds to the current planning status. For a comprehensive list of courses, please refer to the official Course Catalogue Online.

Building on the strong foundation built up taking the compulsory courses, you can sharpen your profile even further by taking core elective courses. They allow you to pursue your individual interests in greater depth and broaden your perspective within the subject of economics. You earn 28 to 40 ECTS credits by taking Core Electives in Economics, Business Administration and Law. You must meet the following minimum requirements:

• core electives in economics: at least 18 ECTS credits from the range of courses offered by the School of Economics and Finance (SEPS).
• core electives in business studies: at least 4 ECTS credits from the School of Finance (SoF) and the School of Management (SoM)
• core electives in law: at least 6 ECTS credits from the School of Law (LS).

You are free to take further courses from these areas. Surplus core electives will be credited at the expense of the elective courses. 

The current course offering on the Core Electives courses in Economics, Core Electives Business Administration and Core Electives Law can you find in the official Course Catalogue Online.

You have to acquire up to 12 ECTS credits in electves by completing further economics courses or enhance your curriculum with courses offered by other majors. In this way, you can use core electives and electives to structure your studies according to your individual preferences - either through a broadly composed portfolio of courses or by focussing on courses offered in a specific subject area.

The complete range of courses can be found in the official Course Catalogue Online.

Do you want to give your studies a focus that future employers will actually notice? Take the specialisation in Data Analytics and Data Handling and have it included in your bachelor's degree transcript. 

To have your specialisation included in your degree transcript you must complete at least 16 ECTS credits from the courses listed below and write your bachelor's thesis in the same subject area. Togethger they will apear on your degree transcipt. 

You must clarify in advance with the programme management of the Major Economics whether the topic you choose for your bachelor's thesis is relevant to the specialisation in terms of its content.

Note: this course offer corresponds to the current planning status. The complete range of courses can be found in the official Course Catalogue Online.

The Contextual Studies courses complement the core courses and are worth 24 ECTS credits.

Contextual Studies is another outstanding feature of the major's curriculum. Courses offered within Contextual Studies integrate knowledge across various disciplines and strengthens the social and cultural competencies of our students in an extraordinary way. You will learn to think 'outside the box' and take courses where you will develop practical skills required for a succsessful carrear in the corporate world, e.g. presentation and negotiation techniques or programming. The range of cross-cultural and cross-social science courses offered in the so called focus areas within Contextual Studies are extremely diverse and can be tailored to the requirements of the Major Economics. 

The Bachelor's thesis (16 ECTS credits) is a research paper. You will engage in an in-depth exploration of a question from a topic area of your own choice. In the Bachelor's thesis, you will follow relevant scientific research designs and principles.

Internationalisation and intercultural exchange are important topics in the Major Economics. Many of our students are drawn to study abroad in the fifth or sixth semester and we very much welcome you to spend an exchange semester either at one of our many partner universities or at a university of your choice. You can also receive credit for courses abroad and, most importantly, gain intercultural skills without having to pause your academic progress. You can find more information about exchange opportunities here.

Here you will find a compilation of the most important programme regulations.