Actuarial Career Preparation
Rhode Island College offers a series of courses that are designed to provide students with a strong analytical background necessary for a career in the actuarial field. Upon completion of these courses students should be well prepared for the first and part of the second actuarial exam administered by the
Society of Actuaries (SOA) and the
Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS). The first exam administered by the SOA is Exam P and is identical to the Casualty Actuarial Society's Exam 1. Exam P (Exam 1) covers topics in general probability, as well as univariate and multivariate probability distributions. The second exam is Exam FM (Exam 2 of the CAS) and covers topics in financial mathematics.
There are a number of different designations for actuaries within the SOA and CAS: Associate (ASA), Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA) and Fellow (FSA). In order to be granted one of these designations, candidates must not only successfully pass a series of exams but also obtain Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) credits from an approved institution. Students must obtain these credits in the areas of economics, financial mathematics and applied statistical methods. Rhode Island College has obtained approval from the SOA for courses in all three areas.
Although Rhode Island College does not have an official actuarial science major, students may wish to combine mathematics major with finance minor. Alternatively, students could combine mathematics major with the courses necessary for VEE credits.
It is recommended that students take the following courses:
- Math 212 Calculus I
- Math 213 Calculus II
- Math 314 Calculus III
- Math 315 Linear Algebra
- Math 240 Statistical Methods I
- Math 441 Introduction to Probability
- Math 445 Statistical Methods II
- Econ 214 Principles of Microeconomics *
- Econ 215 Principles of Microeconomics *
- Econ 449 Applied Forecasting Techniques *
- Finance 330 Managerial Finance and Control *
* Course carries the SOA's VEE designation.
Students can find more information concerning the different options for an actuarial career at
www.beanactuary.org.
For more information about the program, please contact Dr. Stephanie Costa by email at
scosta@ric.edu.
