Florida State University

The Actuarial Science Program at the Florida State University is an interdisciplinary undergraduate major that resides in the Department of Mathematics. It is classified as Advanced Undergraduate and Graduate Education by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) / Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) Listing of Academic Actuarial Science Programs. The complete listing of all schools can be accessed from the Academic Relations page of the Society of Actuaries web site (www.soa.org) or the Casualty Actuarial Society site (www.casact.org). It can also be found at the Be An Actuary web site (www.beanactuary.com). The current process to become an actuary in the SOA or CAS, or a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA) in the SOA, involves passing a sequence of preliminary exams and obtaining validation by educational experience (VEE) in the areas of mathematical statistics (Math Stats), economics (ECO), and accounting and finance (A&F) from an approved university such as FSU. The preliminary exams in the SOA are called Exam P (Probability), Exam FM (Financial Mathematics), Exam IFM (Investments and Financial Markets), Exam L-TAM (Long-Term Actuarial Mathematics), Exam S-TAM (Short-Term Actuarial Mathematics), and Exam SRM (Statistics for Risk Modeling). The preliminary exams in the CAS are called Exam 1 - Probability, Exam 2 - Financial Mathematics, Exam 3F - Financial Economics, Exam MAS-I (Modern Actuarial Statistics I), Exam MAS-II (Modern Actuarial Statistics II), Exam 5 - Basic Techniques for Ratemaking and Estimating Claim Liabilites, and Exam 6 - Regulation and Financial Reporting. Waivers are granted for Exams 1, 2, and 3F. See How To Obtain Credit for Exams 1, 2, and 3F for details. The SOA chose not to name their exams numerically, since doing so would possibly imply that the exams must be taken in a particular order, which is not the case. In fact, most FSU students will take Exam FM as their first exam. Between required courses and electives, FSU's program in actuarial science covers material for all of the preliminary exams as well as all three VEE areas.