Actuarial Studies Majors Take Math, Business and Economics Courses
Image by Brooke Coupal
04/04/2025
By Brooke Coupal
With nearly 200,000 miles on your 2012 sedan, it’s time to trade it in for a new car. You head to a local dealership, where their newest hybrid crossover catches your eye. After haggling over the price, you make the big purchase. You then call your car insurance company to adjust your current policy – and you’re shocked at your new premium. How did they come up with this number?
Behind the scenes, actuaries are analyzing the financial costs of risk and uncertainty to calculate how much you should pay for insurance. Using mathematics, statistics and financial theory, actuaries can assess the likelihood of events, such as car accidents, and that helps companies develop policies that minimize the cost of that risk.
Actuaries are crucial for protecting the financial stability of businesses and individuals, whether at insurance companies, consulting firms, government agencies or financial institutions. With employment in the field expected to increase by 22% from 2023 to 2033, actuaries are the 12th fastest-growing occupation in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
To keep up with this demand and provide students with a lucrative career path (the median pay of an actuary is $120,000), the Department of Mathematics & Statistics unveiled a new Bachelor of Arts in Actuarial Studies program in the fall of 2024.
“The actuarial studies program offers students a unique opportunity to combine a strong foundation in mathematics with practical skills in risk management,” Mathematics & Statistics Chair Ravi Montenegro says. “This program will equip graduates with the knowledge and skills to flourish in their careers.”
Students in the program take a wide range of courses, from Probability and Mathematical Statistics in the Kennedy College of Sciences to Principles of Macroeconomics in the College of Fine Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences. Actuarial studies majors must also take four Manning School of Business courses and at least one computing elective.
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“You have to be well-rounded in the actuarial field because it demands a lot of mathematical skills, but you also need a finance and business background,” says Jong Soo Lee, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics. “We are in a great position to help prepare students for this career because of the program’s interdisciplinary offerings.”
To become an actuary, students must get certified by taking a series of exams offered by the Casualty Actuarial Society, which is geared toward people seeking actuarial work in insurance fields including automobile, homeowners and workers’ compensation, or the Society of Actuaries, which is intended for those seeking work in life and health insurance, retirement benefits and financial investments. The coursework in the actuarial studies program prepares students for certification by both organizations. Students who pass the preliminary tests will have their exam registration fees reimbursed by the Department of Mathematics & Statistics.
“It’s an amazing benefit to offer, because it reduces the financial burden on students pursuing this career,” says Stephanie Guglielmo, who will be the first student to receive a bachelor’s degree in actuarial studies from UMass Lowell when she graduates in May.
Guglielmo enrolled at the university, aspiring to be an actuary due to her passion for math and her interests in finance and economics. She initially majored in mathematics, but jumped at the opportunity to join the actuarial studies program because it aligned better with her career goals. Guglielmo is interested in going into the health insurance field and plans on completing her certification through the Society of Actuaries.
“UMass Lowell is going to produce a lot of great actuaries,” she says. “The university has amazing faculty running the program, providing strong guidance and support to help us pass exams and gain real-world skills.”
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“Having this program with resources from faculty and the exam support, it’s setting students up for success early on in their college career,” says Brendan Stamm ’19, a senior campus recruiter for Liberty Mutual. “Students are going to be able to find success in internships and, eventually, full-time roles once they graduate.”
Stamm works closely with the Career & Co-op Center to recruit UMass Lowell students to Liberty Mutual and is looking forward to expanding this partnership into the actuarial side of the insurance company.
“We get really great talent from UMass Lowell for a lot of other roles, so I’m excited to see the actuarial talent that’s going to come from this program,” he says.