Actuaries provide financial evaluations of risk that help professionals in the insurance and finance industries, and many in large corporations and government agencies make strategic management decisions. Fellowship in the Society of Actuaries or the Casualty Actuarial Society – achieved by passing a series of examinations – is the most widely accepted standard of professional qualification to practice as an actuary.
WPI’s program enables students to take the first steps toward preparing for these exams and introduces these majors to the fundamentals of business and economics.
Students interested in pursuing a degree in Actuarial Mathematics should contact Professor Abraham, the Coordinator of the Actuarial Mathematics Program, as soon as possible.
Program Distribution Requirements for the Actuarial Mathematics Major
The normal period of residency at WPI is 16 terms. In addition to the WPI requirements applicable to all students, completion of a minimum of 10 units of study is required as follows:
Mathematics Requirement (including MQP) (Minimum 22/3 Units)
Must include the following, or their equivalent.
NOTE: Only one of MA 1033 and MA 1971 may count towards this Transition Course requirement.
Note: Experimental and Special Topics Courses with Actuarial relevant topics can also be counted as Elective Actuarial Courses.
Only one of MA 2631 and MA 2621 may count towards the WPI undergraduate degree.
May include independent studies directed towards Society of Actuaries exams only if the material was not previously covered in a WPI course.
Basic Science Requirement (Minimum 2/3 Units)
Courses must be chosen from the following disciplines: BB, CH, ES, GE, or PH.
Computer Science or Data Science Requirement (Minimum 2/3 Units)
NOTE: Only one of DS 1010, CS 2022 and CS 3043 may count towards the Computer Science and Data Science Requirement.
Actuarial Seminar (Minimum 0/3 Units)
The actuarial seminar is a graduation requirement. Students must complete this seminar in at least four terms while at WPI. Please consult with the actuarial faculty for more details about this requirement.
Projects
Off-campus qualifying projects are regularly done in collaboration with insurance companies, and have in the past been sponsored by Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Hanover, John Hancock, Sun Life, Travelers and Unum. Visit http://www.wpi.edu/+CIMS. These projects give real-world experience of the actuarial field by having students involved in solving problems faced by professional actuaries. Instead of choosing a project already posed by a company/advisor team, students may instead seek out industry-sponsored projects on their own (often through internship connections) and propose them to a potential faculty advisor. Alternatively, students may choose to complete any other project in mathematics.
