What Is A Degree?
A degree is the qualification you get at the end of a course of study. You have to complete a range of units within a course to get the degree. Most courses for a single degree can be completed in 3 years full time, some are four years, most double degrees are five years.
Around about this point we usually descend in to gobbledygook uni-speak. Unfortunately you do have to get your head around it, so below is a breakdown of how you get your degree. There is a list of common university terms on the next page to help you too.
The parts that make up your degree
Each class that you take is called a ‘unit’. Some will be compulsory for your degree – these are called ‘core units’. Others you can choose what you want to do from a list of options – these are called ‘electives’.
For some degrees they will have defined majors (a major is a specialisation that is actually listed on your degree transcript). You will need to complete a number of units from a smaller list to qualify for that major.
Most units are 6 credit points (you will see it written as 6cp), but some courses will be 3 credit points, full year long courses are usually 12 credit points. You need 144 credit points to get a standard bachelor degree , which is 24 6cp units.
Confused yet? Let’s look at an example for the Bachelor of Economics.
To qualify for a Bachelor of Economics you need to do 24 x 6 credit point units:
· 6 of them are compulsory
· 6 of them make up your major (or 12 if you are doing 2 majors)
· 6 must be third year or 300 level subjects
· Up to 6 of them can be selected from areas of study other than economics
So your degree plan would look a bit like this:
Year | Notes | Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
1 | First year units are called 100 level units – they are introductory courses. You have to do 4 units that they specify: Introductory Microeconomics, Introductory Macroeconomics, Business Statistics 1&2. Plus you have to do 2 out of 4 other core units: the optional core units. That’s 6 of your 8 units for the year, so you get to choose 2 other 100 level units of your choice. | ECON101 | ECON102 |
| QM161 | QM162 | ||
| MATH120 or MATH101 | ECON143 or MATH102 | ||
| 100-level Elective Unit | 100-level Elective Unit | ||
2 | Second year courses are called 200 level units and are generally intermediate level. Some will have ‘prerequisites’ which means there is another unit you need to complete before you can do that unit. There are 2 core units you have to do: intermediate microeconomics and intermediate macroeconomics, but the other 6 you get to choose. Two of those elective units should be units listed for your major. | ECON201 | ECON202 |
| Listed Unit for this Major | Listed Unit for this Major | ||
| Elective Unit | Elective Unit | ||
| Elective Unit | Elective Unit | ||
3 | Third year subjects are 300 level courses and are more advanced than 200 level courses. You can however still do two 200 level courses in your third year if you want to. There are no core subjects in this year, it is all electives. But you have to make sure you complete the units required for your major. | Listed Unit for this Major at 300-level | Listed Unit for this Major at 300-level |
| Listed Unit for this Major at 300-level | Listed Unit for this Major | ||
| 300-level Elective Unit | 300-level Elective Unit | ||
| 300-level Elective Unit | Elective Unit |
Each degree will have its own structure and requirements. Check out the specifications on the Course and Unit Guide on the UNE website or contact the Student Centre for help.
