Actuarial Science

The actuarial field is a vibrant one and a great way to put to use the mathematics and statistics knowledge you are learning as a major. Actuary is listed as the 4th best job in the 2014 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey behind Mathematician, Tenured Professor, and Statistician.

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers several courses to prepare students for an actuarial career, including courses to prepare for the first two actuarial exams, as well as all of the VEE requirements. We are one of only three institutions in Massachusetts on the 2018 UCAP list maintained by the Society of Actuaries.

We currently have over 100 students in the Actuarial Concentration within the math major, several of whom are also majoring in another field (Finance, Engineering, Economics,...).  Our alumni are employed at insurance and finance companies throughout the country.  We host an Actuarial Career Fair each fall and our Actuarial Club holds events throughout the year.

Our Casualty Actuary Society (CAS) University Liaison is Jeffrey Spahl from The Hanover Insurance Group. Jeff is a 2018 alum who reached Fellow status in CAS in 2023.

Thanks to Robert and Lynne Pollack for their generous donations to the program over the past several years.

Companies with internship or job opportunities for our students should post their positions on Handshake. They may also contact the co-Director of Actuarial Program, Jinguo Lian.

The actuarial societies require several courses as part of the process of obtaining certification within the profession. These courses are known as Validation by Educational Experience (VEE). As of July 1, 2018, the areas and courses are:

• Economics: Microeconomics (Economics 103 or Resource Economics 102) and Macroeconomics (Economics 104)
• Mathematical Statistics: Statistics 315 and 516
• Accounting and Finance: Accounting 221 and Finance 301.

Math majors who have declared the Actuarial concentration may contact Jacob Lagerstrom to submit a request to be enrolled in Accounting 221 or Finance 301.  Requests for enrollment should occur during advising week.

The department offers several courses related to the actuarial exams. Students must take at least one of the exam courses, and also the Math Finance course (Math 537), for the concentration.

Exam P/1: This is an exam covering probability. Math 536 is a course dedicated to preparing students for the exam. The underlying material is covered in Stat 315 and Math 233 and a few students have taken the exam after completing just those courses by studying on their own.

Exam FM/2: The updated version of this exam covers just the interest rate theory material. Math 437 is dedicated to preparing students for this exam. Some of the material is also touched upon in Finance 301.

Exam SRM/3 (Statistics for Risk Modeling): The exam assumes knowledge of probability and mathematical statistics as covered in the Exam P and VEE Mathematical Statistics subjects,  is a prerequisite for the Predictive Analytics education, covers the basics of several important analytic methods, which will go deeper into each of the covered techniques. It covers the regression and time series topics formerly in the Applied Statistics VEE subject. Math 456 (taught by Jinguo Lian) or Stat 525 and Stat 535 will be helpful preparation for this exam.

Bob and Lynne Pollack Actuarial Exam Fund: The department will reimburse the full fee for any of the first three exams that are successfully passed. In addition, for students who fail an exam for the first time, the department will reimburse part of the cost of study materials.  After your result, you will need the receipt of the exam registration, the receipt for textbook, the exam pass (or not pass) certificate, and a thank-you letter written to Bob and Lynne Pollack, which you can then send to the co-Director of the Actuarial Program, Kien Nguyen. We will then provide the reimbursement as a waiver for your tuition.

• Complete Stat 315 in your sophomore year.
• Take an exam course (either Math 437 or Math 436/536) during your sophomore year so that you can pass one exam by the summer before junior year. This makes it more likely to secure an internship during the Actuarial Career Fair and thus have an internship during the summer between junior and senior year.