For admission in the B.S. program in Economics at IIT Kanpur, students have to clear the Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) which is typically conducted in the third week of May. To appear for JEE Advanced, a student must have cleared JEE Main Paper-I (typically around the first week of April). For the detailed procedure and eligibility criteria in this regard, please visit the JEE Advanced Website before the end of December preceding the year in which admission is sought.
No prior knowledge of Economics is needed for admission to the economics program in IIT Kanpur and no separate examination is conducted for entering this course. The candidate is tested against Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in JEE Mains and Advanced like any other candidate. Proper introduction to Economics from base up is provided via introductory courses, starting from first year. The program is highly quantitative and puts substantial emphasis on mathematical and statistical treatment of the subject. Candidates who are inclined towards applied mathematics or statistics are encouraged to apply for the program.
The admission procedure is like any other B.Tech./B.S. program offered at IIT Kanpur. The Department of Economic Sciences admits 38 students every year in its B.S. program. The opening and closing JEE rank (final cut-off) for admission to the BS program in economics for the years 2017-2021 is shown in the table below.
| Year | General | Opening Rank | Closing Rank | EWS | Opening Rank | Closing Rank | OBC | Opening Rank | Closing Rank | SC | Opening Rank | Closing Rank | ST | Opening Rank | Closing Rank | PH | Opening Rank | Closing Rank | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | 1861 | 2724 | 5 | 482 | 531 | 14 | 1188 | 1932 | 7 | 958 | 1716 | 3 | 890 | 990 | 1 | 127 | 127 | 50 |
| 2020 | 20 | 1458 | 3329 | 5 | 388 | 576 | 13 | 1032 | 1675 | 8 | 559 | 1002 | 0 | 1 | 79 | 79 | 47 | ||
| 2019 | 18 | 1681 | 2463 | 2 | 336 | 349 | 11 | 1277 | 1584 | 7 | 904 | 1629 | 4 | 634 | 683 | 1 | 86 | 86 | 43 |
| 2018 | 20 | 1585 | 2718 | 0 | 11 | 1117 | 1571 | 6 | 644 | 1067 | 0 | 0 | 37 | ||||||
| 2017 | 18 | 1559 | 2892 | 0 | 10 | 1339 | 1699 | 6 | 694 | 1061 | 3 | 451 | 690 | 1 | 114 | 114 | 38 |
Students who satisfy certain eligibility criterion (based on CPI) can also opt for a one year M.S. program in Economics after the completion of the B.S. degree. Students also have an option to do a Double Major or Minor in some other subject, provided they satisfy certain eligibility criterion.