Actuarial Science

Have you ever dreamed of running your own business? Or does working at a large corporation sound challenging and exciting? You might be a match for a Central College business management major. Graduates have gone on to direct public relations, work in human resources offices and become project managers and business owners.

Actuarial Science Statement of Philosophy

The actuarial science major is specifically designed to prepare students for a career as an actuary.  However, combined with the Central liberal arts education, students completing this major have a broad foundation that will prepare them for many different business-oriented careers.

Because an actuary must have both mathematical/technical skills and more general business skills, the major combines components from mathematics and business.  Students completing the actuarial science major will have a good foundation in the material for the actuarial industry’s Exam P (Probability), will have some background in the material for Exam FM (Financial Mathematics), and will have completed the actuarial industry’s Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) requirements in Economics, Corporate Finance, and Applied Statistical Methods (Regression).  (Students will still have to fulfill the VEE requirement in Applied Statistical Methods (Time Series) elsewhere.)

Internships are strongly recommended.  They may be obtained through local or regional businesses and organizations, or potentially through one of Central’s international program sites or the Chicago Metropolitan Center.  This experience provides the student with rich learning opportunities and puts course work into practice.

Typical sequence of MAJOR courses for the actuarial science major:

(52 study hour minimum)

Complete all of the following:

  • ACCT241 Introduction to Financial Accounting
  • ACCT242 Introduction to Management Accounting
  • BMGT251  Principles of Management
  • BMGT361  Corporate Finance
  • BMGT362  Principles of Investment
  • COSC110 Introduction to Computer Science
  • ECON112 Principles of Microeconomics
  • ECON113 Principles of Macroeconomics
  • ECON281 Research Methods in Economics
  • MATH131 Calculus I
  • MATH132 Calculus II
  • MATH215 Applied Statistics
  • MATH231 Multivariable Calculus
  • MATH240 Linear Algebra
  • MATH330 Mathematical Modeling
  • MATH341 Probability

Students pursuing the Actuarial Science major are encouraged (but not required) to take the following additional courses:

  • BMGT331 Business Law I
  • BMGT332 Business Law II
  • BMGT363 Advanced Financial Management
  • COSC130 Data Structures
  • ECON212 Intermediate Microeconomics
  • ECON213 Intermediate Macroeconomics
  • ECON324 Monetary Theory and the Financial System
  • MATH342 Statistics
  • MATH370 Numerical Analysis

Finally, all actuarial science must complete the department’s communication skills endorsement.

Students may not declare an actuarial science major in conjunction with the Mathematics or Computer Science majors, or the Business Management or Mathematics minors.