Want to create a long-term degree plan? We have lots of recommendations and important details to keep in mind to help you map out your degree in Economics or Business Economics! 

If you need a template, you’ll find one towards the bottom of this page. If you need a Degree Plan Contract (DPC) for a College petition, please use the College’s template found here.

Read below for tips on the pre-major, major, unit requirements, and planning for study abroad!

The Pre-Major

  • If you can, try to only take one pre-major course per quarter. That way you can really focus on succeeding in that class (However, keep in mind the deadline to declare the major).
  • We strongly advise against taking Econ 11 and Econ 41 in the same quarter. These courses are both calculus-based and can be quite challenging. 
  • For first-year admits: All of your pre-major courses must be completed by 135 units (not including AP/IB/transfer units earned prior to your start at UCLA). Make sure you count the units on your plan to ensure that you meet the deadline!
  • For transfer admits: All of your pre-major courses must be completed by the end of your third regular term. Transfers must be admitted to UCLA as Pre-Econ or Pre-Bus Econ to pursue either major.
  • We encourage students to take Econ 101 soon after taking Econ 11 because both are Intermediate Microeconomics courses. You are not required to take them in back-to-back quarters, however, you should do so, if possible.

  • For those who are double majoring or minoring in a program that requires Stats 100A and 100B, these two courses in combination can be used as credit for Econ 41. Similarly, Math 170E and 170S in combination can be used as credit for Econ 41. These substitutions will show under the pre-major tab of your DAR.

The Major

For both Economics and Business Economics majors:

  • We do not recommend that you take more than two upper division (UD) major courses or two core courses (e.g., Econ 102 and 103/103L) in the same term in order to have the best chance of succeeding in them. 
  • Keep in mind that many core courses are Impacted, which means that they cannot be dropped after Friday of Week 2 during regular quarters and Friday of Week 1 during each summer session.
  • We also do not recommend taking two lab courses in the same term. Courses with a lab component tend to have a larger time commitment due to in-class hours as well as projects. So, to ensure that you are able to dedicate the necessary time to the course, we recommend only one lab course per term.
  • Econ 11, 101, and 102 are prerequisites for one another. Similarly, Econ 41, 103/103L, and 104/104L are as well. You are not required to take them in successive quarters; however, they should be taken as close to one another as possible so as to not forget the concepts learned in the previous course(s).

For Business Economics:

  • ENGCOMP 131B has an extremely limited enrollment cap and priority is given to graduating seniors in their final term. Therefore, it is likely that students will need to wait until their final term to enroll in the course. Alternatively, you can take it at UCLA in the summer when the course has no restrictions other than the prerequisite.

Impacted Courses

  • The following Economics courses are Impacted:
    • Econ 1
    • Econ 2
    • Econ 11
    • Econ 41
    • Econ 101
    • Econ 102
    • Econ 103 and 103L
    • Econ 104 and 104L (Effective Winter 2025)
  • There are also several impacted MGMT courses as well. See here for a complete list of Impacted courses.
  • Impacted courses have a regular quarter deadline of Friday of Week 2 to drop the course. The deadline in summer is Friday of the first week of each session. After these deadlines, you will need to petition with your College counseling unit to drop the course.
  • Be cautious when considering taking more than one Impacted course per term and keep the drop deadline in mind!

Unit Requirements

  • You are required to complete a minimum of 180 units to graduate. This includes any AP, IB, or transfer units for which UCLA has granted credit. 
  • Of those 180 units, a minimum of 60 units must be upper division (UD). Upper Division courses are numbered 100-199 (e.g., Econ 101). 
  • The Economics major will earn you a minimum of 42 UD units, leaving 18 UD units outside the major to be completed. This is approximately five additional courses. These courses can be selected from any discipline as long as they are UD. You may consider pursuing a minor and applying these five courses towards the minor.
  • The Business Economics major will earn you a minimum of 53 UD units, leaving seven UD units outside the major to be completed. This is approximately two additional courses. These courses can be selected from any discipline as long as they are UD.

Planning to Study Abroad?

  • Great! If you are hoping to get major credit for your study abroad coursework but have not yet been approved for the credit, we recommend that you do not assume the credit will be granted. All of your pre-major and major requirements should be accounted for in other quarters to be safe.
  • Once your pre-major or major credit is confirmed by the Department of Economics, you can remove the extra course(s) from your degree plan. It is much easier to remove a course from your plan than to try to add one in!
  • Click here for info about petitioning your study abroad coursework for major credit. 

Degree Plan Template

Ready to map out your plan? Here is a Degree Plan Template to get you started! To use the template, download the file to your computer so you have your own version to edit.

This template will add up the units for you so you can make sure you hit the minimum 180. Do not forget to account for 60 UD units! If you have AP/IB/transfer units, or if you have already completed units in previous terms that are not on your plan, you can input those units at the bottom. There is also a section for notes where you can make any comments that you want to keep in mind when reviewing your plan. 

Degree Plan Template

Ready to Review with a Counselor?

We strongly encourage you to review your plan with a Department of Economics counselor so they can confirm that all major requirements are accounted for and can give you further guidance. Be sure to draft your plan before meeting with them. Click here for their contact information. 

Additionally, we encourage you to take your plan to a College counselor so that they can confirm all other degree requirements are accounted for. Here are the College counseling units: