Why This Matters

Actuarial Science is one of the most in-demand college majors, and with good reason. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median salary for an Actuary in 2022 was $113,990 and the number of jobs in Actuarial Science is expected to grow 23% from 2022 to 2032 - driven by the changing needs of the insurance industry.

Furthermore, Actuarial Science degrees are valuable to those who seek a quantitative role in Finance, Business, Sports, and other industries.

About

We conducted interviews with over 20 Fortune 500 employers, prominent actuaries, and several academics - some of whom are listed below in our contributors section - to identify the key needs and shortcomings of an actuarial science education.

Actuarial Science combines elements of Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science and Programming. In our interviews, we discovered that traditional Actuarial Science programs struggle with three major problems:

• Students who graduate from Actuarial Science programs regularly lack the necessary CS or Data Science skills needed to make a contribution to their jobs on Day 1.
• Many Actuarial Science programs produce graduates who are too narrow in focus and lack a broad knowledge base.
• An excessive focus on higher math often means that the Actuarial Science majors have a high rate of attrition very late in student progress, and students who would otherwise become successful actuaries are unable to successfully matriculate.

The Actuarial Science major addresses these problems in a variety of ways as it prepares students for the realities of Actuarial work in the modern workforce:

1. It strips out unnecessary courses.
2. It is easy for colleges to implement using as many in-house classes as possible.
3. It fully prepares students to take two Society of Actuaries exams - the "P" and "FM" exams. Students can also receive credit for the Casualty Actuarial Society equivalents by taking the SOA exams.

Thus, our major differs from a standard Actuarial Science degree program as follows. We have included classes in programming and Data Science, which provide students with the necessary background in Computer Science. These courses were developed with Dr. Charles Severance, of the University of Michigan, one of the country’s foremost CS educators. We have also removed late-major classes that have no practical value to the supermajority of actuaries. Students will be able to take these classes as electives, but will not be required to engage with them.

Lastly, and perhaps most vitally, the Actuarial Science Major provides students with enough remaining space to explore a wide range of liberal arts classes, creating well rounded graduates - and leveraging the traditional strength of the liberal arts.

A Note on VEE (Validation By Educational Experience)

If your institution wishes to prepare students to become members of the Society of Actuaries, it must apply for approval of certain courses for VEE credit, see the link below:

About VEE: Validation by Educational Experience

These requirements apply to the following course areas:

• Mathematical Statistics