Advancing Actuarial Opportunities Program

Motivation

Actuaries are business professionals who identify risks, and then quantify the financial consequences associated with a decision. It is a challenging and financially rewarding STEM career option that involves probability, statistics, data science, business acumen, and computer programming.

There are several groups of individuals who are substantially underrepresented in the actuarial profession. For example, only about 2% of credentialed actuaries are Black, and approximately 2% are Latino. Commonly encountered barriers that individuals from underrepresented groups are more likely to face than other groups in the actuarial profession include:

Little to no awareness of the profession
Preference to other STEM careers such as data science, engineering, and computer science
Insufficient classwork to introduce them to an actuarial career
Difficulties in obtaining actuarial employment due a lack of knowledge as to how to navigate the employment process

Goals and Benefits of the Program

The UW-Madison actuarial program is seeking to partner with schools with students from underrepresented groups to enroll interested and qualified students in our actuarial courses.

We want to help increase representation of individuals from underrepresented groups within the actuarial profession by raising awareness of actuarial science as a viable STEM career and providing the necessary education and support to pursue the career.

We offer the following:

1. Meet with incoming first-year students interested in math, math majors, and faculty to communicate the breadth of an actuarial career.

2. Classes offered by the UW-Madison actuarial science program.

a. A course list is available here.

b. We will update the list when the course offerings at UW-Madison change.

3. Students register as visiting special students for UW-Madison actuarial courses and will be assessed a tuition rate specified under the UNOL program.

a. Dr. Paul Johnson, PhD, ASA serves as the point of initial contact to register and enroll in courses.

b. Classes taken at UW-Madison can be designated as elective courses at the student's home institution to help satisfy their major requirements.

4. Students have access to resources at UW-Madison that prepare them for an actuarial career.

a. Learn how to navigate the interview process.

b. Connect with supporting affinity organizations such as the International Association of Black Actuaries and the Organization of Latino Actuaries.

c. Virtually attend actuarial club events to hear employer presentations about facets of an actuarial career, and to network with potential employers and fellow students.

5. Other support:

a. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Margie Rosenberg, PhD, FSA facilitate the student experience.

b. Faculty in the actuarial program provide added course support and advising.

c. Students in the actuarial program support with tutoring, advising, and networking.

Partnership with the Society of Actuaries on the UEC AAO Pilot Program

The Wisconsin School of Business and Society of Actuaries (SOA) announced the University Earned Credit (UEC) Advancing Actuarial Opportunities (AAO) pilot program in which students at partner universities can enroll in approved UW-Madison actuarial courses to earn UEC credit. These students have the opportunity to earn credit for a select number of SOA professional exams just like in-person UW-Madison actuarial students.

Click here for the UEC AAO pilot program press release.

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the founding members of the Advancing Actuarial Opportunities Program that helped us start this program, including providing financial support:

We acknowledge the International Association of Black Actuaries for endorsing the Advancing Actuarial Opportunities Program:

How Can I Support This Program?

If you are interested, please contact Dr. Johnson at paul.johnson@wisc.edu. Thank you!