Bachelor of Agricultural Economics

(Part-time study, during the daytime only, may be available in certain circumstances)

Assumed knowledge: Mathematics.
The focus of this economics degree is on the development of analytical, quantitative, computing and communication skills with an emphasis on commodity markets and agricultural and natural resource issues. Skills highly regarded by employers are gained in fourth year through the completion of a research thesis, research exercises and research project reports. A wide range of elective units is available.

Major studies: Include accounting (restricted entry), agribusiness management, agricultural economics, agricultural finance, agricultural marketing, agricultural policy, agricultural science, commercial law, econometrics, economics, finance, geography, government, international trade, management, marketing, modern languages, natural resource economics, psychology.

Professional experience: For students enrolling since 2008, this professional experience requirement is credited to the AFNR4001 unit of study. Overseas experience is encouraged.

Professional recognition: Undergraduates and graduates are eligible for membership of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, the Economic Society of Australia, the Agribusiness Association of Australia and the American Agricultural Economics Association.

Career opportunities: Graduates are employed as applied economists and researchers with commodity and futures brokers, merchant banks and trading banks and by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, ABARE, Meat and Livestock Australia and the Productivity Commission. They are also employed by accounting firms; management consultants, international agencies and agribusiness firms; the wider business community; large corporate farms; and in the media as economic journalists.

Units of study

Table 1 €’ BAgrEc Years 1 and 2 elective units

Notes:

1. Students may count no more than 24 credit points of the units specified in the above table towards meeting the requirements of their degree, and no more than 12 credit points from the listed INFS, MATH, PSYC and Modern Language units.
2. ACCT1001/ACCT1005 and ACCT1003 are mutually exclusive.
3. ACCT1002/ACCT1006 and ACCT1004 are mutually exclusive.
4. Entry to ACCT1001/ACCT1005 and ACCT1002/ACCT1006 is restricted: the student's academic record must be as good as that needed for admission to the University's BCom program.
5. Prerequisites apply for many second semester units.

Table 2 €’ BAgrEc Years 2 and 3 elective units

Majors in the BAgrEc Degree

The definitions of majors in the following tables apply for students commencing in 2005 or later. These students are required to complete 48 credit points in their chosen majors. Their majors must comply with the requirements for the BAgrEc degree as set out below, and also with the minimum requirements of the discipline teaching that major.

Students who commenced in 2004 or earlier will be required to complete 44 credit points to obtain a major. The major will be defined according to the criteria as currently determined by the discipline teaching that major. The current requirements for majors in the Faculty of Economics and Business and the Faculty of Science can be found in the respective faculty handbooks.

All students must complete an Agricultural Economics major and a non Agricultural Economics major. The Agricultural Economics major is defined in Table 3. The other majors available in the BAgrEc degree are defined in Table 4. Up to three majors will be noted on a student's transcript.

Table 3 €’ Agricultural Economics major

Table 4 €’ Non AGEC majors available in the BAgrEc Degree

Notes:

• For disciplines based in other faculties (e.g. Geography is based in the Faculty of Science) the specification of a major here may differ from that in its 'home' faculty. The requirement for a major within the BAgrEc degree is no less, nor more liberal, than in the discipline's 'home' faculty.
• A student can count a particular unit of study towards only one major.
• Where a student could count a unit of study towards more than one major, the student must nominate by the end of their final year the particular major to which the unit is to be allocated.

Course rules