School of Business
Undergraduate Education
Degrees Offered
The School of Business offers the following full-time degree programmes:
- Bachelor of Business Administration with Honours [BBA (Hons)]
- Bachelor of Business Administration (Accountancy) with Honours [BBA (ACC Hons)]
- Bachelor of Science [(Real Estate) (Hons)]
The School also offers a wide array of major, minor, enhancement, and special programmes to our undergraduate students to provide more breadth and depth in their studies.
Curriculum Structure & Degree Requirements
Students are enrolled directly into an Honours programme - BBA (Hons), and are required to complete 160 Units to graduate. The curriculum boasts 7 specialisations for students to choose from.
The degree requirements for the BBA (Hons) programme are listed on the table below:
| University-Level Requirements (24 Units) |
| General Education Courses (6 courses worth 24 Units)
One course from each of the following areas: |
| Programme Requirements (90 Units) |
| Core Courses (13 courses worth 50 Units)
Leadership Core Analytical Core Functional Core |
| Specialisation Courses (worth 20 Units)
Specialisation courses from one of the following options (students must select at least one specialisation): (1) Finance Please click here: https://bba.nus.edu.sg/academic-programmes/bba-programme/curriculum-ay2021-2022-onwards/ for the specialisation courses. Those who wish to read two specialisations may use Unrestricted Elective Courses to complete a second specialisation within the BBA programme. Up to 8 Units of specialisation courses can be double-counted, but triple-counting is not permitted. There is no entrance requirement (e.g. no GPA cut-off) for reading additional specialisations. |
| Honours Courses (20 Units) |
Honours by Research pathway:
Or Honours by Coursework pathway:
For more information about Honours Dissertation, please click here: https://bba.nus.edu.sg/academic-programmes/general-academic-matters/honours-dissertation. For more information about Field Service Project, please click here: https://bba.nus.edu.sg/academic-programmes/general-academic-matters/field-service-project/. |
| Unrestricted Elective Requirements (46 Units) |
| Unrestricted Elective Courses (46 Units)
Students are encouraged to pursue a second major, minor or second specialisation with Unrestricted Elective Courses. Students may take courses offered by the Business School and/or courses offered outside the School to fulfil this requirement. |
| TOTAL: 160 Units
Note: For further information and updates on the BBA and BBA (Hons) Programmes, please click here: https://bba.nus.edu.sg/academic-programmes/bba-programme/curriculum-ay2021-2022-onwards/. |
| Non-Credit Bearing Graduation Requirements* – Academic orientation courses – First-year primer course – Career preparation course |
*Non-Credit Graduation Requirements
(I) Academic Orientation Courses
AOMs are online-based multimedia courses in Calculus and Statistics, and Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint for Business. These courses provide consistent pre-requisite knowledge preparation to facilitate more effective learning of core courses in class as a cohort once semester begins.
- BPM1701 Calculus and Statistics
- BPM1702 Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint for Business
(II) Intensive Primer Course
Effective at introducing specific knowledge and experiential skills within a relatively short time frame, this intensive primer course is an initiative by the Business School to ensure all students begin with a comprehensive introduction to ‘Understanding How Business Works’, to appreciate how different business functions work together.
- BPM1705 Understanding How Business Works
(III) Career Preparation Course
In nurturing leaders for marketplace impact, the Career Preparation course consists of the following 2 components to focus on exposure and skills and complement the formal programme.
- Global Immersion and Study: A requirement for all students, this segment ensures all students receive direct and significant international exposure through participation in a global initiative. This may be a semester abroad, an overseas internship, a case competition or a study trip.
- Career Creation Programme: This comprise a series of activities designed and coordinated by NUS BIZ Career Services to provide students with practical skills. Students will learn job search strategies, resume writing, interviewing skills, understanding one’s strengths and job motivations, networking techniques as well as business etiquette and corporate dressing. Such training is offered to all business students as STR1000 Career Creation Starter Workshops and STR2000 Career Creation Starter Clinics.
For further information and updates, please visit the website at https://bba.nus.edu.sg/academic-programmes/bba-programme/curriculum-ay2021-2022-onwards/ under 'Non-credit, Graduating Requirements (and FAQs)'.
Notes:
- A course may be worth 1, 2, 3 or 4 Units. Core, specialisation and elective courses are worth four units each unless otherwise stated. Additional elective courses of one, two or three units may be introduced as and when necessary.
- When registering for courses, students are to note the prerequisites, which indicate the base of knowledge on which the subject matter of a particular course will be built. Before taking a course, students should complete any prerequisite(s) listed for that particular course. Students may refer to NUSMods for information of the courses offered.
Undergraduate Matters
Please refer to the Registrar’s Office website at https://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/academic-information-policies/undergraduate-students/continuation-and-graduation-requirements for further information on the following and other useful information that students should know:
- GPA for Continuation and Graduation
- Degree Classification
- Residency Requirement and Period of Candidature
- Minimum Units Requirements for Programme / Major / Second Major and Minor
- Advanced Placement Credits & Exemptions
- Satisfactory / Unsatisfactory (S/U) Option
Please refer to the Registrar’s Office website at https://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/administrative-policies-procedures/undergraduate/leave-of-absence for further information on Leave of Absence (LOA).
Students are enrolled directly into an honours programme - BBA (ACC Hons), and are required to complete 160 Units to graduate.
The degree requirements for the BBA (ACC Hons) programme are listed on the table below.
| University-Level Requirements (24 Units) |
| General Education Courses (6 courses worth 24 Units)
One course from each of the following areas: |
| Programme Requirements (108 Units) |
| Core Courses (11 courses worth 40 Units)
Leadership Core Analytical Core Functional Core |
| Compulsory Accounting Courses (11 courses worth 44 Units) (1) ACC2706 Managerial Accounting (2) ACC2707 Corporate Accounting & Reporting I (3) ACC2708 Corporate Accounting & Reporting II (4) ACC2709 Accounting Information Systems (5) ACC3701 Assurance and Attestation (6) ACC3702 Corporate and Securities Law (7) ACC3703 Taxation (8) ACC3704 Advanced Corporate Accounting and Reporting (9) ACC3705 Valuation (10) ACC3706 Corporate Governance and Risk Management (11) ACC3707 Integrated Perspectives in Accounting and Business |
| Honours Courses (20 Units) |
Honours by Research pathway:
Or Honours by Coursework pathway:
For more information about Honours Dissertation, please click here: https://bba.nus.edu.sg/academic-programmes/general-academic-matters/honours-dissertation/. For more information about Field Service Project, please click here: https://bba.nus.edu.sg/academic-programmes/general-academic-matters/field-service-project/. |
| Internship Requirement (4 Units) |
| Accountancy students must complete an accounting or finance-related internship course worth at least 4 Units. |
| Unrestricted Elective Requirements (28 Units) |
| Unrestricted Elective Courses (28 Units)
Students are encouraged to pursue a second major, minor or second specialisation with Unrestricted Elective Courses. Students may take courses |
| TOTAL: 160 Units
Note: For further information and updates on the BBA (ACC) and BBA (ACC Hons) Programmes, please click here: https://bba.nus.edu.sg/academic-programmes/bba-accountancy-programme/bbaacc-curriculum-ay2021-2022-onward/ |
| Non-Credit Bearing Graduation Requirements* – Academic orientation courses – First-year primer course – Career preparation courses |
*Non-Credit Graduation Requirements
(I) Academic Orientation Courses (AOCs)
AOMs are online-based multimedia courses in Calculus and Statistics, and Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint Business. Fresh to the BBA curriculum, these courses provide consistent pre-requisite knowledge preparation to facilitate more effective learning of core courses in class as a cohort once semester begins.
- BPM1701 Calculus and Statistics
- BPM1702 Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint for Business
(II) Intensive Primer Course
Effective at introducing specific knowledge and experiential skills within a relatively short time frame, this intensive primer course is an initiative by the Business School to ensure all students begin with a comprehensive introduction to ‘Understanding How Business Works’, to appreciate how different business functions work together.
- BPM1705 Understanding How Business Works
(III) Career Preparation Course
In nurturing leaders for marketplace impact, the Career Preparation Course consists of the following 2 components to focus on exposure and skills, and complement the formal programme.
- Global Immersion and Study: A requirement for all students, this segment ensures all students receive direct and significant international exposure through participation in a global initiative. This may be a semester abroad, an overseas internship, a case competition or a study trip.
- Career Creation Programme: This will comprise a series of activities designed and coordinated by NUS BIZ Career Services to provide students with practical skills. Students will learn job search strategies, resume writing, interviewing skills, understanding one’s strengths and job motivations, networking techniques, as well as business etiquette and corporate dressing. Such training is offered to all business students as STR1000 Career Creation Starter Workshops and STR2000 Career Creation Starter Clinics.
For further information and updates, please visit the website at https://bba.nus.edu.sg/academic-programmes/bba-programme/curriculum-ay2021-2022-onwards/ under 'Non-credit, Graduating Requirements (and FAQs)'.
Notes:
- A course may be worth 1, 2, 3 or 4 Units. Core, specialisation and elective courses are worth four Units each unless otherwise stated. Additional elective courses of one, two or three Units may be introduced as and when necessary.
- When registering for courses, students are to note the prerequisites, which indicate the base of knowledge on which the subject matter of a particular course will be built. Before taking a course, students should complete any prerequisite(s) listed for that particular course. Students may refer to NUSMods for information of the courses offered.
- The following accounting elective courses may be offered:
- ACC3711 Managerial Planning and Control
- ACC4711Advanced Taxation
- ACC4712 Forensic Accounting
- ACC4713 Financial Institution Audit and Compliance
- ACC4714 Advanced Assurance and Attestation
- ACC4715 Accounting Theory
- ACC4751 Advanced Independent Study in Accounting
- ACC4752 Advanced Independent Study in Accounting (2 Units)
- ACC4761 Seminars in Accounting
- ACC4761A Seminars in Accounting: Internal Audit
- ACC4761C Seminars in Accounting: Advanced Accounting Theory
- ACC4761D Seminars in Accounting: Risk Management Technology
- ACC4761E Seminars in Accounting: Public Sector Audit
- ACC4761F Seminars in Accounting: Advanced Corporate Governance
- ACC4761G Seminars in Accounting: Advanced Risk Management
- ACC4761H Seminars in Accounting: Accounting & Business Analysis for Banks
(The list of courses above is non-exhaustive and subjected to changes as new courses can be added every semester and some courses may not be offered anymore due to irrelevance or restriction of resources. Students should refer to https://bba.nus.edu.sg/academic-programmes/module-registration-information/general/ for courses to be offered for the semester).
Undergraduate Matters
Please refer to the Registrar’s Office website at http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/academic-information-policies/undergraduate-students/continuation-and-graduation-requirements for further information on the following and other useful information that students should know:
- GPA for Continuation and Graduation
- Degree Classification
- Residency Requirement and Period of Candidature
- Minimum MC Requirements for Programme / Major / Second Major and Minor
- Advanced Placement Credits & Exemptions
- Satisfactory / Unsatisfactory (S/U) Option
Please refer to the Registrar’s Office website at http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/administrative-policies-procedures/undergraduate/leave-of-absence for further information on Leave of Absence (LOA).
The Department of Real Estate offers a full-time BSc (Real Estate) undergraduate programme. This is a professional honours degree programme to be completed in four years by students proceeding at a normal pace. The programme is fully recognised by renowned local and foreign professional institutions.
Student may opt to complete a specialisation in real estate finance by completing 20 MCs of distinctive programme elective courses.
Career Opportunities
Students in this programme should be interested in the built environment covering issues from planning, development, management, and the social, economic, political to technical facets of the built environment. In Singapore, career opportunities for Real Estate graduates are found in both public and private sectors. Graduates are employed in the fields of real estate fund management (including REITs), real estate development and investment, urban planning, property valuation and corporate real estate management.
Table 1: Curriculum Structure of the BSc (Real Estate) (Hons) Programme
| NO. | COURSES | Units |
| 1 | University Requirements | 24 |
| a | General Education Courses (GEM) | 24 |
| 2 | Programme Requirements | 108 |
| a | Essential courses taught by the Department of Real Estate | 76 |
| b | Essential courses taught by other Departments | 4 |
| c | FYP Dissertation OR FYP Academic Exercise plus programme elective |
8 |
| d | Programme elective courses | 20 |
| e | Non-Credit, Graduating Requirements
|
0 |
| 3 | Unrestricted Electives (UE) | 28 |
| Total | 160 |
Programme Structure
The recommended progression with course pre-requisites as listed below:
Table 2: BSc (Real Estate) Programme Structure (Normal Track)
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | ||||
| Semester 1 | Semester 2 | Semester 1 | Semester 2 | Semester 1 | Semester 2 | Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
| ACC1701 Accounting for Decision Makers | BSP1703 Managerial Economics | RE2701 Urban Planning (Pre-req:RE1701) |
RE2704 Introduction to Real Estate Valuation |
RE3701 Real Estate Investment Analysis |
RE3703 Advanced Real Estate Economics (Pre‐req: RE2705) |
RE4701 Real Estate Development (Pre‐req: RE3703, RE3704) |
RE4711 FYP Dissertation (8 Units) OR RE4712 FYP Academic Exercise (4 Units) + 1 PE |
| BSP1702 Legal Environment of Business | DAO1704 Decision Analytics Using Spreadsheets | RE2702 Land Law (Pre‐req: BSP1702) |
FIN2704 Finance (Pre-req: ACC1701) |
RE3702 Property Tax and Statutory Valuation (Pre‐req: RE2704) |
PE2 | RE4702 Professional Practice and Ethics (Pre‐req: RE1703) |
|
| MKT1705 Principles of Marketing | RE1701 Urban Land Use and Development |
DAO2702 Programming for Business Analytics(Pre‐req: DAO1704) | RE2705 Urban Economics |
PE1 | UE2 | PE3 | PE5 |
| ES2002 Business Communications for Leaders | RE1706 Design and Construction |
GE3 | RE2707 Asset and Property Management (Pre‐req: RE1706) |
UE1 | UE3 | PE4 | UE6 |
| GE1 | GE2 | GE4 | GE5 | GE6 | UE4 | UE5 | UE7 |
Polytechnic diploma holders may be granted advanced placement credits (APC) up to 20 Units for Unrestricted Elective courses.
Students who have not passed the Qualifying English Test at the time of admission to the University must take an additional course in English in Level One. Students who are exempted from the Qualifying English Test need not do an additional course in English.
Students admitted can undertake one of the 2 academic routes:
- BSc (Real Estate)
- BSc (Real Estate) with Specialisation in Real Estate Finance
A specialisation will be awarded if a student completes a basket of 24 Units (6 courses) of stipulated Programme Electives. The specialisation will be noted in a student’s transcript. It is not compulsory for students to pursue a specialisation.
A student may opt to complete a specialisation in real estate finance after they have completed the fourth semester.
Table 3: Real Estate Finance Specialisation Programme Electives
| Course Code | Real Estate Finance Specialisation (REFS) Programme Electives | Pre-Requisites |
| BI3704R | Business Internship | Refer to NUSMODS |
| RE3802 | Real Estate Finance Law RE1703 | BSP1702 |
| RE3805 | Corporate Investment in Real Estate | RE3701 |
| RE3807 | Corporate Finance for Real Estate | RE3701 |
| RE4711 | FYP Dissertation (8 Units)* | Nil |
| RE4712 | FYP Academic Exercise (4 Units)* | Nil |
| RE4803 | REIT Management | RE3701 |
| RE4804 | Real Estate Securitisation | RE3701 |
| RE4806 | Real Estate Finance Seminar | RE3701 |
| RE4807 | Real Estate Risk Analysis and Management | RE3701 |
*For RE4711 FYP Dissertation, RE4712 FYP Academic Exercise and RE4801 Real Estate Internship Programme to be counted as fulfillment towards the REFS, it must be Finance Related and approved by the Department. If RE4711 is accepted, student must still complete another 5 courses from the REFS programme electives.
Students who are not completing the real estate Specialisation are required to complete 20 Units of programme electives in any combination (except RE4806 Real Estate Finance Seminar). In addition to the 20 Units, students are still required to complete either RE4711 FYP Dissertation or RE4712 FYP Academic Exercise.
Table 4: Other Programme Electives
| Course Code | Other Programme Electives | Pre-Requisites |
| RE2801 | Research Methodology in Real Estate | DAO1704 |
| RE3803 | Strategic Asset Management | RE2702 |
| RE3804 | Real Estate Development Law | RE2702 |
| RE3806 | Advanced Real Estate Valuation | RE3702 |
| RE3901 | Advanced Urban Planning | RE2701 |
| RE4805 | International Real Estate Development and Investment | RE4701 |
| RE4808 | Urban Challenges and Policies | RE2701, RE3703 |
Table 5: Real Estate Unrestricted Electives
| Course Code | Real Estate Unrestricted Electives | Pre-Requisites |
| RE1901 | Real Estate Wealth Management | Nil |
| BI3704/BI3708/BI3712 | Business Internship | Refer to NUSMODS |
| RE3902 | Housing Markets and Policies | Nil |
Concurrent Degree Programme: BSc (Real Estate) + Master of Urban Planning
BSc (RE) students who are interested in Urban Planning (UP) can also choose to pursue the M (UP) concurrently. After a 5-year candidature, they will get 2 degrees:
- BSc (RE) with a specialisation in UP
- MUP
Eligibility Criteria
At the end of the third year in the BSc (Real Estate) course, applicants must obtain a GPA of at least 3.50. Applicants will be subjected to an interview for discretionary admission.
Continuation Criteria at the end of the fourth year
At the end of the fourth year, the candidate of the CDP must have completed RE4711 FYP Dissertation, and also obtain a minimum GPA of 3.00 (for MUP courses only).
Graduating criteria at the end of the 5th year, include a minimum GPA of 3.00 (for MUP courses taken in Year 4 and Year 5).
Student Workload
In any one semester, students are not allowed to take more than 8 courses (excluding English), whether essentials, electives, or GE courses.
Length of Degree Programme
The programme is designed to allow students to progress at their own pace. Students doing the programme at a regular pace should complete it in four years. Students who are able to progress at a faster pace can complete the programme in three-and- a-half years if they take additional courses in each of the four semesters in their Second and Third Levels.
Assessment and Examination
Students are assessed based on a mixture of class work and end-of-semester examinations for each course they had registered for in the semester. Continuous Assessment (CA) may be in the form of essays, projects, reports, or tests. Students’ performance during tutorials may be assessed as part of the CA.
Students who fail in an essential course will have to retake the course the following year. In such instances, students have to attend lectures and tutorials and complete assignments and examinations. A new CA grade has to be obtained.
Students who fail a non-essential course may either replace it with a new course or retake the failed course the following year. There is no limit to the number of times a student may retake the same non-essential course.
Students who have passed any course are not allowed to retake the course to improve their grades.
Progression of Students
Please see the table below:
| Minimum Units (in general) for promotion to the next level | RST1 -> RST2 [>=40 Units] RST2 -> RST3 [>=80 Units] RST3 -> RST4 [>=120 Units] |
Graduation Requirements for four-year BSc (Real Estate) (Hons) Programme
Students have to take all essential courses offered in the semester to which they have progressed, provided they have passed the relevant prerequisites. In addition, they may take courses to satisfy University and other requirements. To graduate, a student must obtain a minimum of 160 Units.
Advanced Placement Credits
Polytechnic diploma holders admitted to the programme may be granted advanced placement credits (APCs) for relevant couses. This is subject to Departmental consideration, given the wide range of subject courses from the polytechnics.
For up-to-date APCs list, please refer to this link.
Please check the faculty website for more details.
The teaching methods applied vary from module to module. Whichever approach is adopted, the aim is to develop each student’s knowledge of the modules, as well as analytical, research and presentation skills. There is a balance of case discussions, small group discussions, computer-simulated games, individual and group projects, quizzes, essay writing, presentations, lectures by guest speakers, etc. Students will be assessed through a combination of these class work components throughout the semester known as ‘Continuous Assessment’ (CA) and the end-of-semester examination. Some modules are assessed based on 100% CA with no end-of-semester examination. The different teaching methods enable students to gain both theoretical and practical skills in a lively and interesting way.
Other Information
Medals and prizes are awarded to students in recognition of outstanding academic performance. Click on the following links to find out more:
To ensure that no deserving student is denied higher education due to financial need, financial aid is offered to eligible students.
Click the following links to find out more: