Economics and Finance –
Gain a greater understanding of the world around you through the lens of economics and finance. Study at Victoria University of Wellington and get your degree from one of the leading centres for business teaching and research in Australasia.
Studying Economics and Finance will prepare you to work in a variety of interesting and challenging professions. Find out about the five areas you can specialise in for your degree.
Study why people choose to do the things they do, and how better decisions could be made.
Economics focuses on scarcity—something that can apply to almost any situation. Consider a student deciding which university to go to, a business contemplating expansion, a government negotiating a free trade deal—all of these involve decisions about limited resources and how to get the most value out of them.
Learn about how decisions are made to produce and distribute goods and services. You'll use models to simplify and explain the real world and make predictions about it, and discover tools that people use to make and judge economic decisions.
Economics is about far more than just money and maths. You'll gain powerful and flexible ways of thinking that you can apply to a whole range of problems. Economics can take you into many areas including business and finance, health, education, trade and aid—any field that deals with limited resources and how to get the most out of them.
While commonly studied alongside Finance or Accounting, Economics is an excellent complement to other disciplines like Law and social sciences.
In a sense, economics is the science of happiness—trying to understand how people can make better decisions so they can improve their lives.
Staff profileDr Adrian Slack
Economics lecturer
Undergraduate degrees
Here are some of the undergraduate degrees you can look at studying.
Bachelor of Commerce – BCom
- Duration 3 years
- Complete 360 points
- Location Wellington campuses
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Next starting dates 7 Jul 2025, 17 Nov 2025, 23 Feb 2026 (+ 0 more) - Entry Achieve the International Baccalaureate Diploma, or three GCE Advanced Level passes at C grade, or equivalent. You may also be required to demonstrate your proficiency in English.
Study Economics as part of a commerce degree if you have focused on commerce subjects at school or your main interests are around business and finance.
Bachelor of Arts – BA
- Duration 3 years
- Complete 360 points
- Location Wellington campuses
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Next starting dates 7 Jul 2025, 23 Feb 2026 (+ -1 more) - Entry Achieve the International Baccalaureate Diploma, or three GCE Advanced Level passes at C grade, or equivalent. You may also be required to demonstrate your proficiency in English.
If you are mainly interested in humanities subjects or social policy, you might choose to study Economics as part of a Bachelor of Arts.
Graduate qualifications
Graduate Certificate in Commerce – GCertCom
- Duration 1 trimester
- Complete 60 points
- Location Wellington campuses
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Next starting dates 7 Jul 2025, 17 Nov 2025, 23 Feb 2026 (+ 0 more) - Entry Bachelor's degree or equivalent. You may also be required to demonstrate your proficiency in English.
Graduate Diploma in Commerce – GDipCom
- Duration 2 trimesters
- Complete 120 points
- Location Wellington campuses
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Next starting dates 7 Jul 2025, 17 Nov 2025, 23 Feb 2026 (+ 0 more) - Entry Bachelor's degree or equivalent. You may also be required to demonstrate your proficiency in English.
Graduate Diploma in Arts – GDipArts
- Duration 2 trimesters
- Complete 120 points
- Location Wellington campuses
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Next starting dates 7 Jul 2025, 23 Feb 2026 (+ -1 more) - Entry Bachelor's degree or equivalent. You may also be required to demonstrate your proficiency in English.
Postgraduate study
Find out about this subject at postgraduate level and what your qualification options are.
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