Actuary degree programs are available at undergraduate and graduate levels, covering subjects such as mathematics, economics, and insurance studies. A specialist qualification is required, followed by a postgraduate program. Accreditation by the International Actuarial Association is necessary for credibility. Additional requirements in the US include an actuary certificate and membership on boards associated with the US Department of Labor and the US Treasury.
Actuaries are employed to calculate risks for a company based on evaluating data, which helps them determine an individual’s long-term financial outlook. The different types of actuarial programs available exist at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and the courses for these degrees cover a variety of subjects. The undergraduate program available at most physical and online universities is a bachelor of actuarial science, and the graduate program is a master’s degree. Some institutions offer a one-year actuary degree to graduate students, which prepares them to start at the junior level in an actuarial career.
Actuary degree programs offered by most universities usually include courses in actuarial science, business, mathematics, economics, statistics, computer science, finance, and insurance studies. In a program aimed specifically at insurance actuaries, insurance studies may carry greater weight. Successful completion of an undergraduate degree does not fulfill the requirements for an actuarial education, and the prospective actuary still needs to have a specialist qualification in one aspect of actuarial science, followed by a postgraduate program such as a master’s degree.
Students in actuary programs, after completing undergraduate studies, can continue to study to gain a postgraduate qualification. The most frequently chosen graduate degrees are the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and the Master of Actuarial Science. To enter one of these programs, a student must have an appropriate bachelor’s degree with classes in subjects such as calculus, probability and statistics, and linear algebra.
Upon completion of the MBA course, the student will still be required to study actuarial science in order to claim an actuarial education. For these students, the one-year actuarial certificate course offered by some institutions will suffice. The student who completes a master’s degree in actuarial science, however, completes courses that include life insurance, survival models, mortality rates, data analysis, statistical modeling, as well as investment and asset management. These actuarial teaching programs teach students to understand the basis of theoretical models and use them in the analysis of financial and insurance risks.
Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees are available as online degree programs from affiliated institutions of recognized universities. Whether the actuarial student embarks on online or in-person actuarial degree programs, the institution offering the program must be able to secure accreditation by the International Actuarial Association, founded in 1895 and exists to promote professional standards throughout the global actuarial field.
For actuaries in the United States, an actuary certificate from one of the two Actuarial Societies is an additional requirement for actuary degree programs. Pension actuaries in the US must also qualify for membership on boards associated with the US Department of Labor and the US Treasury. Actuaries around the world must register with the International Actuarial Association for their actuarial studies to be credible.
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