Substitutable Courses

Important Changes

The VSE has recently changed its guidance around substitutable courses for the majors and program requirements. We have replaced the previous 'approved equivalents' with the information on this page (as of 5 May 2023)

At UBC there are a number of courses from other departments and faculties which overlap significantly with Economics courses.  As a result, we recognize these as substitutable courses for certain admissions, graduation, and credit requirements.  On this page, we provide a list of approved substitutes for certain requirements.   There are three types of requirements:

  • First, admissions requirements: courses which are required for admission to Economics programs.
  • Second, graduation requirements: courses which are required by Economics students in order to graduate.
  • Third, credit requirements: courses which contribute to the total credits at different levels which Economics students require in order to graduate.

One type of substitute does not fulfill any other requirement unless specifically mentioned.  This means that it is important for you to carefully check the courses you wish to substitute before registration, including the required credits at different levels.

Example

You take STAT 200 instead of ECON 325. This meets the graduation requirement and the admission requirement that ECON 325 fulfills, but does not contribute toward your credit requirements; specifically, neither your total economics or upper-level requirements for graduation. You will need to take an additional 300 or 400-level economics course instead to completely replace ECON 325.

 

List of Approved Substitutes

This is a list of approved substitutes for UBC-Vancouver’s Economics application and program requirements.  This list is valid until the end of the 2024/2025 academic year; as the curriculum and content of courses changes over time, we revise this list periodically and reserve the right to make adjustments in future years.

If you wish to inquire about substitutes for non-ECON courses (for example, to meet the MATH or writing requirements for admission), please contact the department offering the requirement.  For the Arts Writing Component, contact Arts Advising.

Approved SubstituteEconomics CourseGraduation
Substitute?		Admission
Substitute?		Credit
Substitute?		Notes
ECON 310ECON 101YesYesYesOnly grants lower-level ECON credit, not upper-level.
FRST 101ECON 101YesYesNo
LFS 101ECON 101YesYesNo
ECON 311ECON 102YesYesYesOnly grants lower-level ECON credit, not upper-level.
ECON 100ECON 101 and 102YesYesYes
ECON 315ECON 301YesYesYes
COMM 295ECON 301YesYesNoStudents must take ECON 303 if substituted.
ECON 204
(UBC-O)		ECON 301YesYesYesOnly grants lower-level credit, not upper-level.
ECON 309ECON 302YesYesYes
ECON 205
(UBC-0)		ECON 302YesYesYesOnly grants lower-level credit, not upper-level.
ECON 316ECON 303YesYesYes
ECON 327ECON 325YesYesYes
STAT 200ECON 325YesYesNoStudent must take an additional 3.0 credits of ECON 3xx/4xx.
STAT 241ECON 325YesYesNoStudent must take an additional 3.0 credits of ECON 3xx/4xx.
STAT 251ECON 325YesYesNoStudent must take an additional 3.0 credits of ECON 3xx/4xx.
COMM 291/191ECON 325YesYesNoStudents must take ECON 398 if substituted.
ECON 328ECON 326YesYesYes
STAT 306ECON 326YesYesNoStudent must take ECON 398 if substituted.
LFS 252ECON 326YesYesNoStudent must take ECON 398 if substituted.
FRE 374ECON 374N/AYesNoCross-listed with ECON and FRE; credit is granted only once under one code.
PHIL 362ECON 318N/AYesNoCross-listed with ECON and PHIL; credit is granted only once under one code.
PHIL 363ECON 319N/AYesNoCross-listed with ECON and PHIL; credit is granted only once under one code.

Notes

  • We do not recognize COMM 290/190, POLI 380, and SOCI 328 as approved substitutes for ECON 325.
  • The department of Mathematics does not recognize UBCO MATH 116 and MATH 142 as equivalent to UBC-V MATH 100 and 101. This means that UBC-O MATH 116 and MATH 142 do not satisfy any UBC-V ECON application or program requirements.
  • We do not recognize UBC-O ECON 295 and ECON 391 as approved substitutes for any UBC-V ECON application or program requirements.
  • We have changed our requirements and no longer recognize STAT 203 as an approved substitute for ECON 325.
  • For substituted with conditions (e.g., “must take ECON 398 if substituted”) this substitution can occur after the course is used for admission, but must occur before graduating.
UBC Course missing?
If a UBC course you are interested in is not on the list, inquire at our undergraduate office.
Non-UBC Course missing?
For non-UBC courses, follow the articulation process below.