Working actuaries advance their careers by achieving “Associate” status in their field.  They must pass 5 examinations plus additional coursework to gain this status.  Upper-level actuarial science majors are actively encouraged to take up to four of the actuarial examinations in order to fulfill graduation requirements and to give them a hiring advantage in the marketplace for this skill set.  Passage of at least one SOA or CAS examination has been a degree requirement in RMU’s Actuarial Science program since 2011.

The Actuarial Science program at RMU has several goals regarding actuarial examination pass rates:  1) At least 80% of its majors receiving grades of A or A- in its advanced statistics course will pass one examination within one year; 2) at least 50% of Actuarial Science majors will have passed two examinations by graduation; and 3) at least 15% will have passed three examinations by graduation. 

The examination performance of Actuarial Science majors versus the program goals for the past five years is as follows:

·       For 2011 graduates, 100% of Actuarial Science majors who were high performers in advanced statistics passed at least one examination within one year; 93% of all Actuarial Science majors passed at least two examinations by graduation and 6% passed at least three examinations by graduation.  The program thus achieved two of its three goals for its 2011 graduates.

·       For 2012 graduates, 100% of Actuarial Science majors who were high performers in advanced statistics passed at least one examination within one year; 89% of all Actuarial Science majors passed at least two examinations by graduation and 11% passed at least three examinations by graduation.  The program thus achieved two of its three goals for its 2012 graduates.

·       For 2013 graduates, 100% of Actuarial Science majors who were high performers in advanced statistics passed at least one examination within one year; 76% of all Actuarial Science majors passed at least two examinations by graduation and 41% passed at least three examinations by graduation.  The program thus achieved all three of its goals for its 2013 graduates.

·       For 2014 graduates, 93% of Actuarial Science majors who were high performers in advanced statistics passed at least one examination within one year; 88% of all Actuarial Science majors passed at least two examinations by graduation and 35% passed at least three examinations by graduation.  The program thus achieved all three of its goals for its 2014 graduates.

·       For 2015 graduates, 87% passed at least two examinations by graduation; 40% passed at least three examinations by graduation.  The program thus achieved two of its three goals for its 2015 graduates.