Ours is one of only 27 programs worldwide (16 of which are in the United States) that are recognized as both Advanced Undergraduate as well as Graduate Education and Research programs by the Society of Actuaries and the Casualty Actuarial Society. We are one of the fastest growing programs in the country, with about 120 undergraduate students and 45 graduate/postgraduate students.
Our Actuarial Program Advisory Board is composed of outstanding practicing actuaries who advise us on the effectiveness and comprehensiveness of our program.
We have an excellent job placement record. Completion of our actuarial program has lead to actuarial employment with an insurance company or a consulting firm for an overwhelming majority of our students in the last 5 years (we have close to a 100% placement rate in actuarial employment for students who passed at least one professional actuarial examination). In the last three years, our students have been placed with the following companies: Aegon, Aflac, Allianz, Allstate, Aon Consulting, Arch Insurance, Assurant, AXA-Equitable, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Citigroup, CNA, Conseco, COR AG Insurance Technologies, Country Insurance and Financial Services, Deloitte, Dion Durrell & Associates, Donlon & Associates, Ergo Insurance, Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Co., Hannover Reinsurance, The Hartford, Horace Mann, ISO, Liberty Mutual, Lincoln National, Milliman, Munich Reinsurance, Nationwide, New York Life, Pekin Insurance, Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, Progressive, RLI Insurance Corporation, Rockhill Insurance, State Auto Insurance. State Farm, SUA Insurance, Swiss Reinsurance, Towers Perrin, Travelers, Trustmark, ULLICO, Watson Wyatt, Wausau Insurance, Wellpoint, Zurich.
We offer undergraduate classes covering material on the first four actuarial examinations, as well as all Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) requirements, and graduate level classes covering the mathematical contents of more advanced examinations of the Society of Actuaries, and the Casualty Actuarial Society. In addition to actuarial courses, a variety of statistics classes in the Department of Mathematics, and insurance classes in the Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services are offered. Our program also administers intensive review seminars for actuarial examinations, the first two of them at no charge, and additional ones at substantially reduced fees, to Illinois State University students.
We encourage our students to pursue excellent opportunities for internships available locally with State Farm, one of the largest insurance firms in the world, and other companies in town: Country Insurance and Financial Services, Towers Perrin, Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, Inc., as well as many other employers, especially those listed above, who have hired our students in the last five years.
We offer numerous scholarships in actuarial science: Actuarial Scholars (State Farm Scholars, Country Scholars, and Katie School Scholars), State Farm Minority Scholarships in Actuarial Science, D.W. Simpson Scholarships, Orlyn Edge Scholarships. Many additional scholarships are available from the Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services in the College of Business. Our students are also very successful in securing external scholarships, mostly from the insurance industry and foundations supporting actuarial science and insurance education.
Our faculty are engaged in cutting edge research, funded by various external agencies, and published in books and top-level journals. Current topics of study include a global study of longevity improvement and its effect on retirement systems, statistical methods used in health insurance, actuarial and economic aspects of life insurance backdating, optimal structure of insurance and reinsurance contracts, and asset-liability management methodologies.
Illinois State University gives you a small college experience with large university opportunities. We offer small class sizes, access to professors, low cost of living, and very reasonable tuition. Our actuarial students are encouraged to join the Honors Program, and the Actuarial Club within Gamma Iota Sigma.
The industry is actively recruiting minorities for actuarial careers. We support this effort by offering scholarships to minority students (in addition to minority scholarships available at Illinois State University): State Farm Minority Scholarships in Actuarial Science, and Allstate Minority Scholarships in Actuarial Science. We also host the Minority High School Scholars Actuarial Academy, a unique summer program for minority high school students, which is supported by the insurance industry and actuarial societies.
