Photo by: Henoc Kivuye
Oklahoma Christian University now offers a degree in one of the most high-paid, low-stress jobs in America and abroad, actuarial science.
“An actuary is someone who works generally for an insurance company and their job is to determine rates based on probability,” Jody Jones, associate professor of business, said. “They are statisticians. For example, depending on how probable it is that you are going to have a wreck is how much your car insurance is going to cost.”
Actuarial jobs are one of the highest-paying jobs in the United States and abroad. The problem is most actuaries are retiring, leaving behind a need for replacements. Most students are not aware of actuarial positions available to them.
“I did not want to study engineering,” sophomore Ornella Umutoni said. “I started looking at other options. I met a student who told me about the actuary program; he told me what actuaries do. I did my own research and it ended up being the perfect combination for me because I wanted to do something with math and economics.
Because the program is not yet recognized by the Society of Actuaries, Oklahoma Christian students interested in the field need to major in mathematics or finance and then choose the actuarial science concentration.
“The goal is for OC to be recognized by the Society of Actuaries,” Jennifer Bryan, associate professor of mathematics, said. “OC needs to offer more classes. There are some classes that we currently don’t offer that we would need to offer to be considered an actuary department, and in order to do that we need a little bit of student interest.”
Oklahoma Christian will not have a specific actuarial department unless there is a greater demand for it by math or finance students.
“OC has an actuarial introduction course,” Bryan said. “Students should take classes elsewhere to get the credit needed to get the next level. OC students are not lacking anything. We still offer the majority of the classes needed to be considered an actuary. As we continue to grow, we will be able to move up the ladder as we find more students interested in the course.”
Oklahoma Christian alumna Cindy Smethers works for the American Fidelity Assurance Company. Smethers has helped plan and teach some of the classes geared towards actuarial focus at Oklahoma Christian, and students have even begun interning for American Fidelity Assurance.
“We have had a number of students going in as actuarial interns both in finance and in math,” Jones said. “It gives them more structure from our standpoint. We did not have to create a lot of new classes. But it gives us something we can sit down with students and say, ‘If you want to be an actuary, this is something we suggest that you take.’”
For students interested in becoming actuaries, there are two required exams to pass that should prepare them for actuarial positions with insurance companies or government jobs.
“One of [the tests] is the Probability Exam,” Bryan said. “My senior-level Probability and Statistics class covers most of that part of the exam. The second exam is the Financial Management Exam. A lot of the courses that they do in the business area, micro-economics and some other classes will prepare you for that second part of the exam.”
Students with deep interest in the actuarial degree plan should visit with Jones and Bryan and discuss which option would work best for them.
“We give you certain classes in math and finance that would lead to a career in actuary,” Bryan said. “For finance majors for example, we say that you should do Calculus I, II and even Calc III, and then we have a senior-level probability course in statistics that is actually the first actuarial exam.”
The best way to prepare for actuarial future jobs is through internships. The state of Oklahoma does not have many actuarial companies, but other states with bigger cities offer an abundance of options.
“I always wanted to do something related to math,” Umutoni said. “I was told the only thing for people who like to do math is engineering. But when I started studying here, it did not work out as well. I feel like I made a really good decision to focus on the actuarial side of it instead of engineering.”
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