Introduction
- Prepares students for careers as practicing actuaries in the insurance, pension, financial or consulting industries.
- Coursework encompasses most of the subject matter for the first five professional examinations of the Society of Actuaries and Casualty Actuarial Society.
- Offers elective coursework meeting all of the Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) requirements of the two professional societies.
- Advanced coursework in Statistics, Finance, Investing, Accounting and Economics.
- Students typically complete the degree in 3 or 4 semesters of full time study.
- Qualifies as a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) degree with the federal
government. International students who earn the degree may be eligible for the STEM extension to the OPT (Optional Practical Training) program, if the company is an E-Verify employer. - More on our actuarial program can be found on its homepage.
Overview of Requirements
To graduate with an M.S. in Mathematics, concentration in Actuarial Science, a student must satisfy all of the following requirements:
- At least 30 credits, including at least 5 of the core courses below.
- A masters pass on two of the departmental PhD qualifying examinations (offered each August and January), which can be waived by passing two exams of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) or Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS).
Coursework
Semesters are noted for reference purposes but are subject to change without notice. Students should refer to Student Admin to confirm availability for a given semester. Those without student admin access can check here.
Core Courses – minimum of five
| MATH 5620 Financial Mathematics I | Fall | 3 cr. | Connection to Exam FM |
| MATH 5650 Financial Mathematics II | Spring | 4 cr. | Credit for Finance VEE |
| MATH 5660 Advanced Financial Math | Spring | 3 cr. | Connection to Exam IFM |
| MATH 5630 Long Term Actuarial Math I | Fall | 4 cr. | Connection to Exam FAM/ALTAM |
| MATH 5631 Long Term Actuarial Math II | Spring | 4 cr. | Connection to Exam FAM/ALTAM |
| MATH 5637 Statistics for Actuarial Modeling | Fall | 4 cr. | Connection to SOA Exam SRM & CAS Exam MAS-II |
| MATH 5638 Predictive Analytics for Actuaries | Spring | 3 cr. | Connection to SOA Predictive Analytics project & CAS Exam MAS-II |
| MATH 5639 Actuarial Loss Models | Fall | 3 cr. | Connection to SOA Exam FAM/ASTAM and CAS Exam MAS-I |
| MATH 5640 Short Term Insurance Ratemaking | Connection to SOA Exam FAM/ASTAM and CAS Exams MAS-II and 5 | ||
| MATH 5641 Short Term Insurance Reserving | Spring | 3 cr. | Connection to SOA Exam FAM/ASTAM and CAS Exam 5 |
| MATH 5661 Yield Curve Models | Spring | 3 cr. | Some connection to Exam IFM |
Elective Courses
Select additional courses from the core courses list, and/or select from the following:
No more than 6 credits of undergraduate courses 3000+ can be used toward the MS degree.
| MATH 3170 Elementary Stochastic Processes | Spring | 3 cr. | Connection to CAS Exam S |
| MATH 3545 Actuarial Case Studies Using SAS | Varies | 1 cr. | |
| MATH 3550 Programming for Actuaries | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | |
| MATH 5600 Fundamentals of Financial Math | Fall | 3 cr. | some connection to Exam IFM |
| MATH 5850 Graduate Field Study Internship | Fall/Spring/Summer | 1-3 cr. | No more than 3 credits can apply toward the degree |
| MATH 5110 Introduction to Modern Analysis | Fall | 3 cr. | |
| MATH 5111 Measure and Integration | Spring | 3 cr. | Consult advisor first |
| MATH 5160 Probability & Stochastic Processes I | Fall | 3 cr. | Consult advisor first |
| MATH 5161 Probability & Stochastic Processes II | Spring | 3 cr. | Need permission |
| MATH 5670 Financial Programming & Modeling | Fall | 3 cr. | |
| MATH 5671 Financial Data Mining with Big Data | Spring | 3 cr. | |
| ACCT 5121 Financial Accounting and Reporting | Fall/Spring/possible Summer | 3 cr. | Strongly encouraged – Hartford campus online* |
| ACCT 5327 Financial Statement Analysis | Fall | 3 cr. | |
| ECON 5201 Microeconomics | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | Credit for Microeconomics VEE |
| ECON 5202 Macroeconomics | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | Credit for Macroeconomics VEE |
| ECON 5301 Mathematical Economics | Fall | 3 cr. | |
| ECON 5311 Econometrics I | Fall | 3 cr. | |
| FNCE 5202 Investments and Securities Analysis | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | Hartford campus online* |
| FNCE 5504 Options and Futures | Varies | 3 cr. | Hartford campus online* |
| FNCE 5512 Fixed Income Instruments | Spring | 3 cr. | Hartford campus* |
| FNCE 5151 Introduction to Economic Markets | Fall/Spring/possible Summer | 3 cr. | Hartford campus online* – credit for Microeconomics VEE and Macroeconomics VEE |
| STAT 3965 Elementary Stochastic Processes | Fall | 3 cr. | Equivalent to Math 3170 |
| STAT 5361 Statistical Computing | Fall | 3 cr. | |
| STAT 5585 Mathematical Statistics I | Fall | 3 cr. | Anticipated credit for Mathematical Statistics VEE |
| STAT 5585 Mathematical Statistics II | Spring | 3 cr. | Anticipated credit for Mathematical Statistics VEE |
| STAT 5505 Applied Statistics I | Fall | 3 cr. | |
| STAT 5605 Applied Statistics II | Spring | 3 cr. | |
| STAT 5315 or 3115 Analysis of Experiments | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | |
| STAT 5725 Linear Statistical Models I | Fall | 3 cr. | |
| STAT 5825 or 4825 Applied Time Series | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. |
*Enrollment in the Hartford Campus courses can be made by arrangement with the Instructor or the Graduate Coordinator. Online can mean distance learning or asynchronous and the mode could change in future semesters.
Undergraduate courses of interest but these courses are not eligible to be included in the M.S. degree requirement:
| MATH 3160 Mathematical Probability | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | Probability for undergraduates – connection to Exam P |
| MATH 3610 Probability Problems | Fall/Spring | 1 cr. | Exam P prep for undergraduates |
| MATH 3615 Financial Mathematics Problems | Fall/Spring | 1 cr. | Exam FM prep for undergraduates |
| ACCT 2001 Principles of Financial Accounting | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | Anticipated credit for Accounting VEE |
| ECON 1200 Principles of Economics – Intensive | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | Credit for Microeconomics VEE and Macroeconomics VEE |
| ECON 1201 Principles of Microeconomics | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | Credit for Microeconomics VEE |
| ECON 1202 Principles of Macroeconomics | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | Credit for Macroeconomics VEE |
| ECON 2201 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | Credit for Microeconomics VEE |
| ECON 2202 Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory | Fall/Spring | 3 cr. | Credit for Macroeconomics VEE |
Additional UConn VEE Course Listings
Report on the Final Exam
- Passing grades on two Society of Actuaries or Casualty Actuarial Society exams (preferred)
- Pass two of the mathematics department’s preliminary PhD qualifying examinations at master’s level (offered in August and January)