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Home > Faculty of Commerce > Accounting & Finance > Current Students > SAF Honours Program

Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) 

Information for Accounting & Finance Students

First point of contact is with the Honours Coordinator.

Accountancy Honours Coordinator	Finance Honours Coordinator
Dr Corinne Cortese Location: 40.316 Telephone: (02) 42 21 3697 Email: corinne_cortese@uow.edu.au	Dr Andrew Tan Location: 40.304 Telephone: (02) 42 21 5301 Email: andrew_tan@uow.edu.au

 

The Honours Program

The Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree is a 48 credit point ‘end-on’ program that students complete in their final year of undergraduate studies (note that because Honours is an ‘end-on’ program, it is available only to students who have not graduated from their Bachelor degree). The Honours degree involves a 24 credit point research project that is supervised by two academics. It also involves 24 credit points of advanced coursework subjects that support and compliment the research project. Double majors are permitted and the Honours degree can also be completed on a part-time basis over four semesters. 

Students enrol in ACCY401, Honours Research in Accounting (24 credit points) or FIN401, Honours Research in Finance (24 credit points) depending on their area of specialisation. Students, with advice from their research supervisors and approval of the Honours Advisor, then select four units of coursework (6 credit points per subject). An Accountancy honours subject is any 400-level subject with an ACCY prefix and a Finance honours subject is any 400-level subject with a FIN prefix. The coursework structure for Accountancy and Finance students is as follows:

Compulsory subjects:
Subject code	Credit points	Subject name
ACCY403	6	Theoretical Foundations of Accounting
ACCY407	6	Empirical Research Methods
And any two of the following:
Subject code	Credit points	Subject name
ACCY404	6	Financial Accounting
ACCY413	6	Management Accounting
ACCY414	6	Management Planning and Control Systems
ACCY418	6	Applied Management Accounting
ACCY436	6	Management and Information Systems
ACCY474	6	Accounting Regulation
ACCY485	6	Special Topic in Accounting A
FIN 422	6	Investment Management
FIN 423	6	Portfolio Management
FIN 424	6	Financial Statement Analysis For Business
FIN 425	6	Banking Theory and Practice
FIN 426	6	Advanced Managerial Finance
FIN 427	6	Entrepreneurial Finance
FIN 428	6	Multinational Financial Management
FIN 487	6	Special Topic in Finance

 

Admission requirements and key dates

Admission requirements: Admission to the Honours program is on a competitive basis. Normally, students should be enrolled in a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Wollongong and they should have a minimum of a high credit average (70 or above) across the subjects in their chosen specialisation.

How to apply: Students must apply for admission into the Honours program before they graduate from their Bachelor degree. Students should complete the “Undergraduate Application Form”, available from UniAdvice, and indicate Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) as their course preference. A current academic transcript should be attached to the application and, if requested by potential supervisors, a 500 word proposal should also be included. This proposal should detail information about the research area of interest, identify potential supervisors, and show evidence of planning for the research project.

Key dates: Applications should be received no later than 31 January for commencement in Autumn semester and no later than 30 June for commencement in Spring semester. Applications must be submitted to UniAdvice.

Scholarships: Students are also encouraged to apply for Honours scholarships at both the Faculty and University level. Closing dates for Faculty of Commerce scholarship applications are 31 January or 30 June depending on the semester of commencement. University scholarship applications must be received by the Research Students Centre (building 20) by 30 November. More information regarding University Honours scholarships can be obtained from the Research Students Centre.

More information: The Honours Handbook is available from the Commerce Central website.  Students are also encouraged to meet with Honours Advisors and potential research supervisors.

Why do Honours?

Performing well in the Honours year can provide students with a competitive edge in their chosen profession as well as a gateway to higher degree research programs if they wish to pursue a PhD in the future. In particular, students who obtain Class I Honours have a very good chance of obtaining a PhD Scholarship.

On top of these potential outcomes, students complete Honours for the experience. The program is challenging and rewarding at the same time. It provides a unique opportunity to work closely with experienced academics while being independent and self directed. Also, it allows students to delve into a topic that is of particular interest to them by applying the skills and knowledge that they gained from their previous undergraduate coursework. Students are encouraged to meet with the potential supervisors of the research topic that is of interest to them.

Useful Forms

Honours Subject Approval Form

Nomination of Supervisor Form

Student Progress Report

Change of Supervisor Form

Examiners Nomination Form

Thesis Examiners Report

Scholarship Information

Scholarship Application