Actuary Program

What is an Actuary?

Actuaries are experts in managing and quantifying risk. Insurance companies hire actuaries to evaluate the likelihood of future events in order to price policies and manage claims. Large corporations hire actuaries to manage risk in areas such as pensions, health care, and retirement plans. Other employers of actuaries include health care providers and the government.

To learn more about careers as an actuary, visit "Be An Actuary," brought to you by the Society of Actuaries and the Casualty Actuarial Society.

Why Become an Actuary?

Since 2009, CareerCast.com has been ranking jobs for overall desirability due to work environment, job outlook, pay, and other factors. In ten of the eleven annual rankings, actuary has been in the top 10 jobs (of 200 jobs rated). It was in the top 5 seven times, and it was the highest rated job in 2010, 2013, and 2015. A US News & World Report ranking shows it as #23 on the highest paying jobs in America list, with a median base salary above six figures.

How to Become an Actuary

Becoming an actuary is different than getting a job in other professions. The vast majority of the actuaries in the U.S. are members of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) or the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS). These professional organizations administer a series of exams and other validations which lead to professional certifications known as Associateship and Fellowship in the respective societies. The path to Associateship (and eventually Fellowship) is complicated and continually changing but begins by taking a few exams while in college. At Fisher, we have faculty members who are in touch with the current process and a curriculum that is designed to help you prepare for the first few exams on your path toward Associateship in either society.

Why Choose Fisher to Prepare for a Career as an Actuary?

Solid content preparation: Students in the actuarial program at Fisher pursue a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in mathematics. As part of this major, students will be engaged in facets of statistics, computer programming, and economics as they prepare to begin the exam process and their careers. Many students also choose to pursue majors or minors in our School of Business particularly in finance, which gives them an extra edge in the world of insurance.

Liberal arts core: Being an actuary is more than just crunching numbers. As with any job, the ability to communicate effectively, write well, work in teams, and have a broad knowledge base about the applications of the products of one’s company (in insurance and other fields) can turn an academically qualified individual into a leader in the workforce. Fisher's Core Curriculum is the educational experience common to all of our undergraduates. It is the manifestation of Fisher's rich liberal arts tradition, and it was intentionally designed to provide you with the broad knowledge and diverse skills that employers require of today's job applicants.

Preparation for actuarial credentials: At Fisher, we offer courses designed to help students prepare for two exams to pursue certification through the Society of Actuaries or the Casualty Actuary Society (see details below). We also offer all of the courses necessary to gain Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) credit by both SOA and CAS (again, see details below). These will help when students are looking for jobs.

Small class sizes: With a student-to-faculty ratio of 12:1, students will have personal interactions with their professors from day one on campus. In other words, you will not be a number in a large class here, and your professors work to see that you will succeed.

Local opportunities: There is a moderate-sized network of actuaries in the Rochester area, especially in the health care industry. The faculty at Fisher are in constant contact with this network to keep our program relevant and current. There are also opportunities for internships and job shadowing.

Actuary Program Details

For full details, see the Undergraduate Catalog.