Business: Actuarial Science, BBA

Actuarial science involves the construction and management of insurance and pension systems using knowledge from statistics/data science, mathematics, economics, finance, and computer science. The field of actuarial science centers on data analytics for risk assessment. The Actuarial Science major curriculum prepares students for careers with insurance companies, consulting firms, healthcare organizations, and government organizations. Courses offered cover the material of the preliminary examinations of the Casualty Actuarial Society and the Society of Actuaries as well as more advanced subjects such as regression analysis, health analytics, and machine learning. While it is not required for students to sit for actuarial exams, more than 90% of our students pass at least two professional exams before they graduate.

MISSION

The actuarial science program distinguishes itself through leadership, innovation, community, connections, networks, and recognition of the quality of the faculty, the courses, and the students.

Related Organizations

Actuarial Club
Co-Curricular Learning Board

1. Recognize and explain the concept of risk, and apply the knowledge to the development of insurance products that are used to manage risk for the consumer as well as the risk of those products on the insurance organization.
2. Describe the actuarial profession, including the major professional organizations, the professional obligations of being an actuary, and the requirements to obtain and maintain a professional actuarial designation.
3. Demonstrate skills in critical thinking, quantitative analysis, and communication, as well as to develop an appreciation for actuarial theory, research, and the link to practical application.
4. Demonstrate the soft skills of being a professional.
5. Communicate their experiences and inspire others across the WSOB learning community.

All undergraduate students at UW–Madison must complete the university-wide General Education Requirements, which are designed to convey the essential core of an undergraduate education. This core establishes a foundation for living a productive life, being a citizen of the world, appreciating aesthetic values, and engaging in lifelong learning in a continually changing world. These requirements provide for breadth across the humanities and arts, social studies, and natural sciences; competence in communication, critical thinking, and analytical skills necessary for success in college and beyond; and investigation of the issues raised by living in a culturally diverse society. This core is intended to provide students with intellectual and practical skills, basic knowledge of human cultures and the physical world, strategies for understanding these topics, and tools intended to contribute to their sense of personal and social responsibility. General Education complements the work students do in their majors and degrees. Together, these requirements help students learn what they need to know not just for making a living, but also for making a life.

Completing the General Education Requirements is an important part of achieving these competencies, and to do so, students choose from many courses in communication, ethnic studies, quantitative reasoning, and breadth of study across disciplines in the natural sciences, humanities, literature, and arts, and social and behavioral sciences.

Completing the General Education Requirements is an important part of achieving these competencies, and to do so, students choose from many courses in communication, ethnic studies, quantitative reasoning, and breadth of study across disciplines in the natural sciences, humanities, literature, and arts, and social and behavioral sciences.

Each school and college may choose to allow General Education courses to count toward other degree and/or major requirements. Students should always check with their advisors to discuss any additional degree requirements and determine if students are required to take specific General Education courses or to complete the requirements in a particular order. Students should review their Degree Audit (DARS) report to see how they are progressing toward fulfilling the General Education requirements. Please refer to.

Advising is an integral part of any student’s educational journey in the Wisconsin School of Business Undergraduate Program. Starting at Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR), we encourage all students to connect with academic advisors. Business academic advisors have a wealth of knowledge about courses on campus, as well as policies and procedures.

Business career coaches help students with career exploration, internships, resumes, job search, interviewing and more. We encourage students to connect with their career coach once they arrive on campus.

Business academic advisors and career coaches are passionate about student success. Students experiencing academic difficulty or personal struggles are encouraged to talk to their advisor about how their individual situation may affect their academic performance.

Assigned Academic and Career Coaches

For admitted business students, academic advisors and career coaches are assigned by academic major. If you have more than one major, you may have more than one assigned advisor and coach. You can find your assigned advisor and coach by logging into your Starfish portal through MyUW. 

For students not yet admitted to the Wisconsin School of Business, we have a team of pre-business advisors available to you.

Accessing Advising

Drop-in advising and scheduled appointments are available for admitted business students. Pre-business students may also schedule an appointment with a pre-business academic advisor or utilize drop-in academic advising. 

For more information on accessing academic advising, please see our academic advising page.

For more information on accessing career coaching, please see our career coaching page.

Actuarial program faculty offer advising nights every fall semester to help students plan their course sequencing and professional exams.

Actuaries are problem solvers with expertise in understanding and managing financial risk.  They use historical information and models to help predict the future.  Actuaries may specialize in life and health (risk of illness, disability or death), pensions (develop and analyze retirement programs) or property and casualty (personal property risks and risks associated with businesses).

Some of our actuarial students utilize the analytical and technical skills they learn in the actuarial program and apply those skills to pursue data analytics or data science as a career.  They may do this in the risk and insurance industry or in any industry that has the need to analyze, project and make decisions from large amounts of data.

Find out more about common industries and essential skills needed to be an actuary on the Undergraduate Actuarial Science website.