UNDERGRADUATE
BS Economics and Data Science

BBA

Bachelor of Science (BS) Economics and Data Science

This interdisciplinary program is designed to equip students with robust analytical skills in economics and cutting-edge competencies in data science. Graduates will be adept at leveraging data-driven insights to address complex economic and societal challenges. The rapid digitization of economies and the explosive growth of data analytics have created an urgent need for professionals who can bridge economic theory with computational tools. Traditional economics programs emphasize theoretical frameworks but often neglect technical training in data science, while standalone data science degrees lack contextual understanding of economic systems.

 

 

The BS Economics and Data Science program is designed to address this gap by integrating rigorous training in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics with cutting-edge skills in machine learning, statistical programming, and big data analysis. This interdisciplinary approach aligns with global trends and responds to demand from employers like the State Bank of Pakistan, fintech firms, and international development agencies.

Bachelor of Science (BS) Economics and Data Science

Program Structure

Degree Overview

  • Duration: 4 years (8 semesters).
  • Total Credits: 128 (40 courses + capstone + internship).
  • Key Components:
    • Economics: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Econometrics (45 credits).
    • Data Science: Machine Learning, Databases, Optimization (30 credits).
    • Interdisciplinary Electives: e.g., Blockchain Economics, AI for Policy Evaluation. (15 credits)

Experiential Learning

  • Capstone Project: Solve real-world problems (e.g., "Predicting Inflation Using Social Media Data", “Mapping Urban Poverty Using Satellite Imagery and Census Data”, etc.).
  • Internships: Mandatory summer internships at partner organizations (List available on website).
Curriculum Structure
Duration 4 years
Semesters 8
Courses 40
Capstone Project 1
Internship 1
Total credit hours (40 courses, 1 project, 1 internship) 128
Personal Effectiveness (non-credit short course) 1
Responsible Citizen Initiative (non-credit social internship) 1
Required Courses, Internships, and Project

Section

Course Category

Courses

Credit Hours

A

General Education

12

32

B

Economics Core

10

33

C

Economics Elective

4

12

D

Data Science Core

6

21

E

Data Science Elective

3

9

F

Interdisciplinary/Allied

5

15

G

Capstone Project

1

3

H

Internship

1

3

I

Personal Effectiveness (non-credit short course)

1

-

J

Responsible Citizen Initiative ((non-credit social internship)

1

-

Total

128

A. GENERAL EDUCATION COURSES

S. No. Course Title Course Code Credit Hours Prerequisite
1 Entrepreneurship BUS103 2 -
2 Civic and Community Engagement SSC215 2 -
3 Introduction to Programming CSE 141 4 -
4 Islamic Scholarly Tradition/Philosophy Logic and Ethics* SSC313/HUMXXX 2 -
5 Pakistan History/Constitutional History SSC153 2 -
6 Critical Reading and Communication SSC108 3 -
7 Introduction to Academic Writing SSC236 3 -
8 Introduction to Statistics MTS102 3 -
9 Statistical Inference MTS202 3 MTS102
10 Introduction to Philosophy HUM102 2 -
11 Physics/Mechanics/Electricity, Magnetism and Waves** SCI201/PHYXXX/PHY102 3 -
12 Introduction to Psychology/Anthropology/Sociology/Logic and Critical Reasoning ** SSC218/SSCXXX/SSCXXX 3 -
  Total Credit Hours   32  

B. ECONOMICS CORE COURSES

S. No. Course Title Course Code Credit Hours Prerequisite

1

Principles of Microeconomics

ECO103

3

-

2

Principles of Macroeconomics

ECO104

3

-

3

Intermediate Microeconomics

ECO201

3

ECO103

4

Intermediate Macroeconomics

ECO202

3

ECO104

5

Microeconomic Theory

ECO312

3

ECO201

6

Macroeconomic Theory

ECO313

3

ECO202

7

Applied Econometrics I

ECO343

4

MTS202

8

Applied Econometrics II

ECO344

4

ECO343

9

Research Methods in Economics

ECO411

3

ECO343

10

Causal Inference/Impact Evaluation Methods

ECO443

4

ECO104

 

Total Credit Hours

 

33

 

C. ECONOMICS ELECTIVE COURSES

Students are required to take four economics elective courses. Currently, the following elective courses are being offered:

Course Title Course Code Credit Hours Prerequisite
International Trade ECO466 3 ECO103
Behavioral Economics ECO470 3 ECO103
Climate Change Economics ECO458 3 ECO103
Decolonizing Economics: Epistemology and Practice ECO481 3 -
Economics of Education ECO479 3 -
Energy Economics ECO463 3 -
Environmental Economics ECO450 3 ECO201
Health Economics ECO471 3 ECO201
Industrial Economics and Business Strategy ECO476 3 ECO201
International Finance ECO459 3 ECO104
Labour Economics ECO472 3 ECO201
Modern Quantitative Methods ECO473 3 ECO344
Monetary Economics ECO452 3 ECO202
Poverty and Income Distribution ECO475 3 -
Public Finance ECO451 3 ECO104
Spatial Economics ECO477 3 -
Time Series Econometrics ECO457 3 ECO343
Game Theory - 3 -

D. DATA SCIENCE CORE COURSES

S. No.

Course Title

Course Code

Credit Hours

Prerequisite

1

Object-Oriented Programming Techniques

CSE 142

4

CSE 141

2

Data Structures

CSE 247

4

CSE 142

3

Introduction to AI

CSE 307

3

CSE 247

4

Database Systems

CSE 341

4

CSE 247

5

Introduction to Machine Learning

CSE 472

3

CSE 307

6

Business Intelligence

CSE 459

3

CSE 341

 

Total Credit Hours

 

21

 

E. DATA SCIENCE ELECTIVE COURSES

Students are required to take three Data Science elective courses.

Course Title

Course Code

Credit Hours

Prerequisite

Introduction to Text Analytics

CSE 473

3

 

Introduction to Network Data Analysis

CSE 469

3

 

Introduction to Computer Vision

CSE 454

3

 

Neural Networks and Deep Learning

CSE 471

3

 

Introduction to Big Data Analytics

CSE 452

3

 

F. INTERDISCIPLINARY/ALLIED COURSES

Students are required to take the following Interdisciplinary/Allied courses. Students must select one Interdisciplinary/Allied elective courses from Finance, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science.

S. No.

Course Title

Course Code

Credit Hours

Prerequisite

1

Calculus-I

MTS101

3

-

2

Calculus-II

MTS232

3

MTS101

3

Linear Algebra

MTS203

3

MTS101

4

Accounting and Finance

FIN

3

 

5

Interdisciplinary/Allied Elective I

-

3

-

G. CAPSTONE PROJECT:

Students must complete one Capstone project of 3 credit hours in the final year.

S. No.

Course Title

Course Code

Credit Hours

Prerequisite

1

Capstone Project in Economics and Data Science

ECO412/MTS439

3

-

INTERNSHIP: Students must engage in an internship of 3 credit hours after completing their 6th semester of the coursework, preferably during the summer break.

PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS: Personal Effectiveness is offered in either the 5th or 6th semester for BS Economics and Mathematics students. This is a non-credit course and is a part of the graduation requirement. It consists of five 2-hour workshops distributed over the whole semester.

RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN INITIATIVE (SOCIAL INTERNSHIP): Students must complete their Responsible Citizen Internship (Social Internship) after completing their 2nd semester at IBA and fulfill this graduation requirement before the end of their 6th semester.

SEMESTER-WISE SEQUENCE OF COURSES

S. No. Semester 1 Course Code Credit Hours Pre-requisite Course Category

1

Principles of Microeconomics

ECO103

3

-

Economics core

2

Calculus I

MTS101

3

-

Interdisciplinary/Allied course

3

Introduction to Programming

CSE141

4

-

General Education

4

Introduction to Statistics

MTS102

3

-

General Education

5

Critical Reading and Speech Communication

SSC108

3

-

General Education

 

Total credit hours

 

16

 

 

S. No. Semester 2 Course Code Credit Hours Pre-requisite Course Category

1

Principles of Macroeconomics

ECO104

3

-

Economics core

2

Calculus II

MTS232

3

-

Interdisciplinary/Allied course

3

Statistical Inference

MTS202

3

MTS102

General Education

4

Introduction to Psychology/Anthropology/Sociology

SSC218

3

-

General Education

5

Object-Oriented Programming Techniques

CSE 142

4

CSE 141

Data Science core

 

Total credit hours

 

16

 

 

S. No. Semester 3 Course Code Credit Hours Pre-requisite Course Category

1

Intermediate Microeconomics

ECO201

3

ECO103

Economics core

2

Linear Algebra

MTS211

3

MTS232

Interdisciplinary/Allied course

3

Introduction to Academic Writing

SSC236

3

-

General Education

4

Entrepreneurship

BUS103

2

-

General Education

5

Civic and Community Engagement

SSC215

2

-

General Education

6

Data Structures

CSE 247

4

CSE142

Data Science core

 

Total credit hours

 

17

 

 

S. No. Semester 4 Course Code Credit Hours Pre-requisite Course Category

1

Intermediate Macroeconomics

ECO202

3

ECO103

Economics core

2

Pakistan History

SSC153

2

-

General Education

3

Physics/Mechanics/Electricity, Magnetism, Waves

SCI201/ PHYXXX/ PHY102

3

-

General Education

4

Introduction to Philosophy

SSC102

2

-

General Education

5

Islamic Scholarly Traditions / Philosophy, Logic, and Ethics *

SSC313/ HUMXXX

2

-

General Education

6

Introduction to AI

CSE 307

3

CSE247

Data Science core

 

Total credit hours

 

15

 

 

S. No. Semester 5 Course Code Credit Hours Pre-requisite Course Category

1

Applied Econometrics I

ECO343

4

MTS202

Economics core

2

Microeconomic Theory

ECO312

3

ECO201

Economics core

3

Introduction to Machine Learning

CSE 472

3

CSE307

Data Science core

4

Database Systems

CSE 341

4

CSE247

Data Science core

5

Accounting and Finance

-

3

-

Interdisciplinary/Allied

 

Total credit hours

 

17

 

 

S. No. Semester 6 Course Code Credit Hours Pre-requisite Course Category

1

Applied Econometrics II

ECO344

4

ECO343

Economics core

2

Research Methods for Economics

ECO411

3

ECO343

Economics core

3

Personal Effectiveness

SSC240

-

-

Non-credit mandatory

4

Business Intelligence

CSE 459

3

CSE 341

Data Science Core

5

Macroeconomic Theory

ECO313

3

ECO202

Economics core

 

Total credit hours

 

13

 

 

S. No. Summer Semester Course Code Credit Hours Pre-requisite Course Category

1

Internship

-

3

-

Internship

S. No. Semester 7 Course Code Credit Hours Pre-requisite Course Category

1

Causal Inference/Impact Evaluation Methods

ECO443

4

ECO104

Economics core

2

Economics elective I

ECO

3

-

Economics elective

3

Capstone Project (Provisional)

ECO412/ MTS439

0

-

Provisional for starting Capstone

4

Data Science elective I

CS

3

-

Data Science elective

5

Economics elective II

ECO

3

-

Data Science elective

 

Total credit hours

 

13

 

 

S. No. Semester 8 Course Code Credit Hours Pre-requisite Course Category

1

Data Science elective II

CS

3

-

Data Science elective

2

Data Science elective III

CS

3

-

Economics elective

3

Economics elective III

ECO

3

-

Economics elective

4

Economics elective IV

ECO

3

-

Economics elective

5

Capstone Project

ECO412/ MTS439

3

-

Capstone Project

6

Interdisciplinary/Allied elective IV **

 

3

 

Interdisciplinary/Allied

 

Total credit hours

 

18

 

 

** All Muslim students are required to register for Islamic Scholarly Tradition (IST), Non-Muslim students may take Philosophy Logic and Ethics (PLE).

** Students must select two Interdisciplinary/Allied elective courses from Finance, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science.

×
Curriculum Structure

Duration

4 years

Semesters

8

Courses

42

Capstone Project

1

Internship

1

Total credit hours (41 courses, 1 project, 1 internship)

129

Personal Effectiveness (non-credit short course)

1

Responsible Citizen Initiative (non-credit social internship)

1

Required Courses, Internships, and Project

Section

Course Category

Courses

Credit Hours

A

General Education

12

31

B

Economics Core

11

35

C

Economics Elective

2

6

D

Mathematics Core

11

33

E

Mathematics Elective

2

6

F

Interdisciplinary/Allied

4

12

G

Capstone Project

1

3

H

Internship

1

3

I

Personal Effectiveness (non-credit short course)

1

-

J

Responsible Citizen Initiative ((non-credit social internship)

1

-

Total

129

A. GENERAL EDUCATION COURSES

S. No. Course Title Course Code Credit hours Prerequisite

1

Entrepreneurship

BUS103

2

-

2

Civic and Community Engagement

SSC215

2

-

3

Introduction to Computer Applications  

MIS103

3

-

4

Islamic Scholarly Tradition/Philosophy Logic and Ethics*

SSC313/HUMXXX

2

-

5

Pakistan History

SSC153

2

-

6

Critical Reading and Communication

SSC108

3

-

7

Introduction to Academic Writing

SSC236

3

-

8

Introduction to Statistics

MTS102

3

-

9

Statistical Inference

MTS202

3

MTS102

10

Introduction to Philosophy  

HUM102

2

-

11

Physics/Mechanics/Electricity, Magnetism and Waves**

SCI201/PHYXXX/PHY102

3

-

12

Introduction to Psychology/Anthropology/Sociology **

SSC218/SSCXXX/SSCXXX

3

-

*All Muslim students are required to register for Islamic Scholarly Tradition (IST), Non-Muslim students may take Philosophy Logic and Ethics (PLE)

** Students are required to take any one of these three courses.

B. ECONOMICS CORE COURSES

S. No. Course Title Course Code Credit Hours Prerequisite

1

Principles of Microeconomics

ECO103

3

-

2

Principles of Macroeconomics

ECO104

3

-

3

Intermediate Microeconomics

ECO201

3

ECO103

4

Intermediate Macroeconomics

ECO202

3

ECO104

5

Microeconomic Theory

ECO312

3

ECO201

6

Macroeconomic Theory

ECO313

3

ECO202

7

Applied Econometrics I

ECO343

4

MTS202

8

Applied Econometrics II

ECO344

4

ECO343

9

Research Methods in Economics

ECO411

3

ECO343

10

Development Economics

ECO301

3

ECO104

11

International Trade

ECO466

3

ECO103

C. ECONOMICS ELECTIVE COURSES

Students are required to take two economics elective courses. Currently, the following elective courses are being offered:

Course Title Course Code Credit Hours Prerequisite

Behavioral Economics

ECO 470

3

ECO103

Climate Change Economics

ECO458

3

ECO103

Decolonizing Economics: Epistemology and Practice

ECO481

3

-

Economics of Education

ECO479

3

-

Energy Economics

ECO463

3

-

Environmental Economics

ECO450

3

ECO201

Health Economics

ECO471

3

ECO201

Industrial Economics and Business Strategy

ECO476

3

ECO201

International Finance

ECO459

3

ECO104

Labour Economics

ECO472

3

ECO201

Machine Learning for Economists

ECO405

3

MTS111

Modern Quantitative Methods

ECO473

3

ECO344

Monetary Economics

ECO452

3

ECO202

Poverty and Income Distribution

ECO475

3

-

Public Finance

ECO451

3

ECO104

Spatial Economics

ECO477

3

-

Time Series Econometrics

ECO457

3

ECO343

D. MATHEMATICS CORE COURSES

S. No. Course Title Course Code Credit Hours Prerequisite

1

Calculus-I

MTS101

3

-

2

Calculus-II

MTS232

3

MTS101

3

Multivariable Calculus

MTS424

3

MTS232

4

Linear Algebra

MTS203

3

MTS101

5

Discrete Mathematics

MTS211

3

-

6

Introduction to Differential Equations

MTS241

3

MTS101

7

Stochastic Process

MTS304

3

MTS231

8

Optimization Techniques

MTS330

3

MTS101, MTS203

9

Partial Differential Equations

MTS436

3

MTS241

10

Real Analysis I

MTS341

3

MTS232

11

Probability Theory

MTS231

3

-

E. MATHEMATICS ELECTIVE COURSES

Students are required to take two mathematics elective courses. Currently, the following elective courses are being offered.

S. No. Course Title Course Code Credit Hours Prerequisite

1

Complex Analysis

MTS302

3

MTS341

2

Abstract Algebra I

MTS305

3

MTS203

3

Numerical Analysis

MTS306

3

MTS232

4

Functional Analysis I

MTS411

3

MTS341

5

Functional Analysis II

MTS412

3

MTS411

6

Abstract Algebra II

MTS413

3

MTS305

7

Numerical Solutions of PDE

MTS431

3

MTS414

8

Integral Equations

MTS432

3

MTS303

9

Advanced Numerical Analysis I

MTS433

3

MTS414

10

Advanced Numerical Analysis II

MTS434

3

MTS433

11

Differential Geometry

MTS435

3

MTS204, MTS203

12

Fluid Dynamics I

MTS437

3

-

13

Fluid Dynamics II

MTS438

3

-

14

Financial Mathematics with a Computational Approach

MTS441

3

-

15

Computational Finance

MTS442

3

-

16

Topology I

MTS451

3

MTS341

17

Scientific Computing for Linear PDE’s

MTS414

3

MTS413

18

Modern Algebra I

(Galois Theory and Application)

MTS443

3

MTS413

19

Modern Algebra II

(Commutative Rings and Fields)

MTS444

3

MTS413

20

Measure Theory I

MTS445

3

-

21

Measure Theory II

MTS446

3

-

22

Operations Research I

MTS447

3

-

23

Operations Research II

MTS448

3

-

24

Introduction to Differential Topology

MTS452

3

MTS451

25

Financial Engineering

MTS453

3

MTS441

F. INTERDISCIPLINARY/ALLIED COURSES

Students are required to take the following Interdisciplinary/Allied courses. Students must select two Interdisciplinary/Allied elective courses from Finance, Social Sciences, Data Science, and Computer Science.

S. No. Course Title Course Code Credit Hours Prerequisite

1

Essential Software

MTS111

3

-

2

Data Analytics for Economists

ECO304

3

ECO304

3

Interdisciplinary/Allied Elective I

-

3

-

4

Interdisciplinary/Allied Elective II

-

3

-

G. CAPSTONE PROJECT:

Students must complete one Capstone project of 3 credit hours in the final year.

S. No. Course Title Course Code Credit Hours Prerequisite

1

Capstone Project in Economics / Capstone Project in Economics Mathematics

ECO412/MTS439

3

-

INTERNSHIP: Students must engage in an internship of 3 credit hours after completing their 6th semester of the coursework, preferably during the summer break.

PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS: Personal Effectiveness is offered in either the 5th or 6th semester for BS Economics and Mathematics students. This is a non-credit course and is a part of the graduation requirement. It consists of five 2-hour workshops distributed over the whole semester.ing

RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN INITIATIVE (SOCIAL INTERNSHIP): Students must complete their Responsible Citizen Internship (Social Internship) after completing their 2nd semester at IBA and fulfill this graduation requirement before the end of their 6th semester.

 

SEMESTER-WISE SEQUENCE OF COURSES

S. No. Semester 1 Course code Credit hours Pre-requisite Course category

1

Principles of Microeconomics

ECO103

3

-

Economics core

2

Calculus I

MTS101

3

-

Mathematics core

3

Introduction to Computer Applications

MIS103

3

-

General Education

4

Introduction to Statistics

MTS102

3

-

General Education

5

Critical Reading and Speech Communication

SSC108

3

-

General Education

S. No. Semester 2 Course code Credit hours Pre-requisite Course category

1

Principles of Macroeconomics

ECO104

3

-

Economics core

2

Calculus II

 MTS232

3

-

Mathematics core

3

Statistical Inference

MTS202

3

MTS102

General Education

4

Introduction to Psychology/Anthropology/Sociology

SSC218

3

-

General Education

5

Pakistan History

SSC153

2

-

General Education

6

Islamic Scholarly Traditions / Philosophy, Logic, and Ethics *

SSC313/ HUMXXX

2

-

General Education

S. No. Semester 3 Course code Credit hours Pre-requisiteh Course category

1

Intermediate Microeconomics

ECO201

3

ECO103

Economics core

2

Discrete Mathematics

MTS211

3

-

Mathematics core

3

Multivariable Calculus

MTS242

3

MTS232

Mathematics core

4

Introduction to Academic Writing

SSC236

3

-

General Education

5

Entrepreneurship

BUS103

2

-

General Education

6

Civic and Community Engagement

SSC215

2

-

General Education

S. No. Semester 4 Course code Credit hours Pre-requisite Course category

1

Intermediate Macroeconomics

ECO202

3

ECO103

Economics core

2

Linear Algebra

MTS203

3

MTS101

Mathematics core

3

Probability Theory

MTS231

3

MTS102

Mathematics core

4

Essential Software

MTS111

3

-

Interdisciplinary/ Allied

5

Physics/Mechanics/Electricity, Magnetism, Waves

SCI201/ PHYXXX/ PHY102

3

-

General Education

6

Intro to Philosophy

SSC102

2

-

General Education

S. No. Semester 5 Course code Credit hours Pre-requisite Course category

1

Applied Econometrics I

ECO343

4

MTS202

Economics core

2

Microeconomic Theory

ECO312

3

ECO201

Economics core

3

Macroeconomic Theory

ECO313

3

ECO202

Economics core

4

Introduction to Differential Equations

MTS241

3

MTS101

Mathematics core

5

Real Analysis I

MTS341

3

MTS232

Mathematics core

S. No. Semester 6 Course code Credit Hours Pre-requisite Course category

1

Applied Econometrics II

ECO344

4

ECO343

Economics core

2

Research Methods for Economics

ECO411

3

ECO343

Economics core

3

International Trade

ECO466

3

ECO103, ECO104

Economics core

4

Partial Differential Equations

MTS436

3

MTS241

Mathematics core

5

Data Analytics for Economics

ECO304

3

-

Interdisciplinary/ Allied

6

Personal Effectiveness

SSC240

-

-

Non-credit mandatory

S. No. Summer Semester Course code Credit hours Pre-requisite Course category

1

Internship

-

3

-

Internship

S. No./strong> Semester 7 >Course code Credit hours Pre-requisite Course category

1

Development Economics

ECO301

3

ECO104

Economics core

2

Economics elective I

ECO

3

-

Economics elective

3

Stochastic Processes

MTS304

3

MTS231

Mathematics core

4

Mathematics elective I

MTS

3

-

Mathematics elective

5

Interdisciplinary/Allied elective I **

-

3

-

Interdisciplinary/Allied

6

Capstone Project in Economics/ Capstone Project in Mathematics

ECO412/ MTS439

0

-

Provisional for starting Capstone

S. No. Semester 8 Course code Credit hours Pre-requisite Course category

1

Optimization Techniques

MTS330

3

MTS101/ MTS203

Mathematics core

2

Mathematics elective II

MTS

3

-

Mathematic elective

3

Economics elective II

ECO

3

-

Economics elective

4

Interdisciplinary/Allied Elective II **

-

3

-

Interdisciplinary/Allied elective

5

Capstone Project in Economics/ Capstone Project in Mathematics***

ECO412/ MTS439

3

-

Capstone Project

* All Muslim students are required to register for Islamic Scholarly Tradition (IST), Non-Muslim students may take Philosophy Logic and Ethics (PLE)

** Students must select two Interdisciplinary/Allied elective courses from Finance, Social Sciences, Data Science, and Computer Science.

*** Students can take either the Capstone Project in Economics (ECO412) or the Capstone Project in Mathematics (MTS439).


© Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi. All Rights Reserved.