2018-2019 Academic Catalog

Offered in: Chicago

The Mathematics and Actuarial Science faculty at Roosevelt offer an accelerated BS in Actuarial Science/MS in Actuarial Science program to eligible students. Students entering this program can earn both bachelor's and master's degrees in less time than earning these degrees separately would require.

Risk analysts and actuaries are expected to earn professional designation from either the Society of Actuaries (life and health insurance) or the Casualty Actuarial Society (property and casualty insurance). These societies administer a series of examinations that lead to the risk analyst designation, or for actuaries, first to the designation of associate and then to fellow. The initial exams are the same for both societies. The courses required for the major and the minor will aid the student in preparing for the first two of the professional societies' examinations and will also satisfy their Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) requirements in economics and corporate finance.  

Students apply to this accelerated program at the end of their sophomore years and are accepted into the degree program during their junior years (after having completed at least 60 credit hours), then begin enrolling in graduate courses in their senior years (after completing 75 credit hours) and complete the requirements for the MS degree in their fifth years.

As undergraduates, eligible students may earn from 9 to 12 credit hours (taking three or four graduate-level courses), which are applied toward both the undergraduate degree and the graduate degree. Graduate courses taken during the student's senior year will depend on the courses the student has remaining to complete in the undergraduate degree in actuarial science. Once the student completes the BS, the graduate-level courses taken as an undergraduate will be transferred to the student's MS transcript.

Admission

Applicants must have a desire to become professional actuaries and must be either:

1. Actuarial Science majors at Roosevelt University, minoring in both Finance and Computer Science, having a 3.25 GPA (or better) in all actuarial science or mathematics courses taken at Roosevelt, with a minimum of three of these courses by the time of application, or other evidence of scholarly capability. Students should apply at the end of their sophomore years.
2. High school students accepted into the BS in Actuarial Science with a 3.5 GPA (or higher) and a 25 ACT (or higher), or other evidence of scholarly capability.
3. Transfer students who have completed Calculus 1-3 (equivalent to MATH 231 CALCULUS I, MATH 232 CALCULUS II, and MATH 233 CALCULUS III at Roosevelt) having a 3.25 GPA (or better) in all actuarial science or mathematics courses taken at the college level. Students should contact the department chair at Roosevelt indicating their intent to apply.  Many community colleges have specific articulation agreements with Roosevelt, and so students are encouraged to also discuss their degree plans with their transfer coordinator.

Accepted students must also agree to finish the MS in mathematics with a concentration in actuarial science program at Roosevelt and maintain good standing in master's- level courses.

Acceptance into the program will be decided by a departmental committee.

Degree awards

The BS is awarded when all undergraduate requirements are completed (with substitution of three or four graduate-level courses for three or four undergraduate courses).  The MS is awarded when all graduate requirements are completed.

Application deadline: May 1