For the BA degree, PPE students will read at least 120 units over three years:

• 20 units for University Level Requirements (General Education).
• 4 units for Faculty Core Requirement FAS1102 Public Writing and Communication (Cohort 2019 and before) or 2 units of FAS1103 Effective Workplace Communication and 2 units of CFG1002 Career Catalyst (Cohort 2020 onwards).*
• 16 units for exposure courses in Philosophy, Political Science, and Economics, and Asian Studies
• 32 units for Unrestricted Electives.^#
• 48 units for the PPE major, consisting of:
  • Specialisation: 24 units, with at least 12 units at the 3000 level (6 courses).
  • 2 x Non-Specialisations: Each 12 units, with at least 4 units at the 3000 level (3 courses in each discipline).

*Students who have gained entrance to PPE at the point of admission to NUS FASS with the writing test will not need to read FAS1101 Writing Academically. Students who have read and passed FAS1101 (and are thus exempted from taking the writing test) at point of entrance to PPE will count that course towards Unrestricted Electives.
#Of the 32 units in the PPE students’ Unrestricted Elective Space, 4 units may be used for the their PPE specialisation. (The rest should come from outside the PPE specialisation.)

 

For the BA (Hons) degree, PPE students will read at least 160 units over four years. They will fulfill the requirements for the BA, plus 40 units of PH/PS/EC/PE or PE-recognized 4000 (or higher) level courses, consisting of:

• At least 10 units of courses in the Specialization (PH/PS/EC).
• At least 10 units of PPE Capstone Seminars (i.e., 4000-level PE-coded or PE-recognised courses, not including the Honours Thesis, Research Internship Project, Independent Study Course, or UROP).

By default, PPE students who write the Honours Thesis for PPE will do so in the Specialization department using the appropriate PE-coded course (PE4401P/S/E), but they may also seek co-supervision from one of the other two departments. PPE students will be expected to work on thesis projects that approach their topic from more than one disciplinary angle, using the range of intellectual tools they have learned in the programme.

Students who do not attempt the PPE Honours Thesis or Research Internship Project will read level-4000 or higher PH/PS/EC/PE courses to fulfil the Honours Requirements, including the PPE Independent Study Course (PE4660P/S/E). Note that the Independent Study Course and the Honours Thesis (or Research Internship Project) preclude one another.

 

Use of Recognized Courses

A maximum of 10 units of PE-recognized/EC-recognized/PS-recognized/PH-recognized courses may be used to fulfil the requirements of Major Courses (Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary). For undergraduate courses, the recognized course must be of the same level and discipline as the course it is replacing. No more than one recognized course may be counted towards any PH/PS/EC 4000-level requirement.

 

PPE with Second Major

Students are not allowed to pair PPE with their PPE specialisation field as a second major. They may, however, pair PPE with either of their non-specialisation fields to form a double major. The three courses taken under the relevant PPE non-specialisation will be double-counted towards both majors. Students desiring to pair PPE with any other majors will need to seek approval for their study plan by writing to the admin of the specialisation department (see contact information).