CAS Syllabus of Examinations
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Actuarial Program at Florida State University
Actuarial Sciences is a career that is in high demand. Actuaries are professionals who use their mathematical training and talent to solve problems on insurance and finances. They can expect high starting salaries, and opportunities to rapidly move up in the employment scale.
The department of Mathematical Sciences at Florida Atlantic University offers a Certificate program in Actuarial Sciences. To qualify for the Certificate, students are required to complete 15 credit hours of prerequisites and 20 credit hours of required courses, with at least 18 credit hours from FAU. Students are required to complete an Internship in Actuarial Sciences, as part of the 20 required credits.
This program will prepare students for the first two Actuarial exams. The certificate will be completed after taking the required courses and doing an internship work term. The internship term will provide students with an opportunity to get hands-on experience in the actuarial field, by working with a senior actuary, in an industrial setting or a government or other agency. During the internship students would get paid a hourly salary for a total of $5,000 to $6,000. We would expect that an undergraduate student might wish to repeat the internship work term if the money is good, and if the student decides s/he likes actuarial work.
Prerequisites: Course title Credits Course number Calculus 1,2,3 12 MAC 2311-2313 Macroeconomics 3 ECO 2013 Requirements: Probability and Statistics 1, 2 6 STA 4442, STA 4443 Microeconomics 3 ECO 2023 Principles of Insurance 3 RMI 3011 Actuarial Science Internship 6 STA 4945 Prep for Actuarial Exam 1 1 STA 4721 Prep for Actuarial Exam 2 1 STA 4722
Summary: 15 credits of prerequisites and 20 credits of requirements, for a total of 35 credits. At least 18 of these credits are to be done at FAU.
It is recommended that students also complete Applied Statistics 1 (STA 4234), Applied Statistics 1 Lab (STA 4202L), and Applied Statistics 2 (STA 4203). These courses will prepare students for the third actuarial examination.
STA 4442 Probability and Statistics 1. An introductory course treating combinatorics, probability spaces, laws of large numbers, and the Central Limit Theorem. An introduction to Markov processes, information theory and applications.
STA
4443 Probability and Statistics 2. Properties of test statistics,
estimation and testing, linear models, contingency tables; topics from
nonparametric statistics, design of experiments or methods of inference.
ECO 2013 Macroeconomic Principles. Introduction to the modern theory of income determination, with emphasis on monetary and fiscal policies to achieve full employment and economic growth.
ECO 2023 Microeconomic Principles. Introduction to the determination of prices in a market economy and to the concept of scarcity and the role of prices in distributing incomes.
RMI 3011 Principles of Insurance. An introduction to risk management and insurance. This course surveys various risks and policy options including homeowners, auto, fire, marine, liability, life, health, employee benefits, social and business.
STA 4234 Applied Statistics I. Point and interval estimation, hypothesis tests, nonparametric procedures, contingency tables. Essential distribution theory. Linear models, including multiple regression and analysis of variance. Emphasis on data analysis, statistical graphics, and diagnostics via personal computing.
STA 4203 Applied Statistics II. Multivariate statistical methods, including the multivariate normal distribution, component analysis, factor analysis, multivariate analysis of variance and regression, discriminant analysis, and causal modeling. Students will use SAS and/or SPSS statistical software.
V.
Appendix: Actuarial
Examination Courses
Course 1 Mathematical foundations of actuarial science: This course covers topics in calculus, probability that correspond to our courses MAC 1-2, STA 4442.
Course 2 Interest theory, economics and finance: This course covers topics in economics, including microeconomics and macroeconomics, interest theory and finance.
Course 3 Actuarial models: Candidate is expected to understand many mathematical and stochastic process models and techniques and to be able to apply them to solve problems set in a business context.
Course 4 Actuarial modeling: Candidate is expected to apply statistical methods to sample data to quantify and evaluate the models presented on Course 3, and to use the models to solve problems set in a business context.
Course 5 Application of basic actuarial principles: This course develops the candidate’s knowledge of basic actuarial principles applicable to a variety of financial security systems such as life, health, property & casualty insurance, annuities, and retirement systems. The candidate will be required to understand the purpose of these systems, the design and development of financial security products, the concepts of anti-selection and risk classification factors, and the effects of regulation and taxation on these issues. The course will develop the candidate’s knowledge of principles and practices applicable to the determination of premiums and rates and evaluation and funding of these financial security systems.
Course 6 Finance and Investments: This course extends the candidate’s knowledge of basic actuarial principles in the fields of investments and asset management. Candidates completing this course will have developed some expertise in the areas of capital markets, investment vehicles, derivatives-applications, principles of portfolio management and asset-liability.
Course 7: Applied modeling: This course introduces the candidate to the practical considerations of modeling through an intensive seminar using a case study format. Candidates are required to pass a pre-test to be eligible to take the Course 7 seminar. The interactive approach of the seminar will require candidates to draw upon knowledge from the basic courses and learn applied modeling skills in a hands-on environment. The seminar also emphasizes communication skills, teamwork and the synthesis of subjects in an applied setting.
Course 8: Advance actuarial practice: This course is given for different detail areas in Finance, Health, group life, and managed care, individual insurance, investments, retirement benefits.