To become an actuary, you have to pass a series of professional exams. These exams can be taken through the Society of Actuaries or Casualty Actuarial Society. The typical career path starts in college in an actuarial program where students take classes to prepare for these exams. While in college, students take some of these exams, and upon graduation join an insurance company as an actuarial trainee. After starting the job, actuarial candidates take the rest of the exams, complete other requirements (see SOA and CAS for more) and become actuaries. 

Simply put, we have what you need to start on this career path. WKU’s actuarial science program is one of the few such programs in the state of Kentucky. Our program is recognized by the Society of Actuaries as a program that provides coverage for two of the exams (P - Probability and FM - Financial Mathematics). The classes you will take in our program will satisfy all three Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) requirements. We also offer classes that will help you prepare for the SRM - Statistics for Risk Modeling and PA - Predictive Analytics exams.

Unlike most actuarial programs that housed in mathematics departments, our program is a collaborative effort between the Economics and Mathematics departments at WKU. The full name of this program is Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Economics, Actuarial Science Concentration. This collaboration between the departments helps students prepare not just for the “math part” of being an actuary but also for the business aspects of that job. The program is growing but is still small, so you will receive a lot of personal attention and career advice. You will also connect with our recent graduates who found jobs in the industry and who can help you with your professional growth. 

Our students found jobs in leading companies in the industry such as Anthem, CNA, Humana, and Mutual of Omaha. We continue to grow our network and establish recruitment pipelines with major insurance companies. 

We welcome international students. We are a STEM-qualified program and our students are eligible for a OPT extension (CIP Code -  45.0603).

Program of study can be found here 

For more information, contact Dr. David Zimmer, the chair of the Economics Department david.zimmer@wku.edu or Dr. Stephen Locke, the program director stephen.locke@wku.edu