MActSc (ACTUARIAL SCIENCE) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR.

prepared by
Dr. Myron Hlynka, Dept. of Math. & Stat, U. of Windsor.
October, 2020.

INTRODUCTION

If you are interested in the U. Windsor professional Master's program in Actuarial Science (sixth intake in Fall, 2020), read below and also see
http://learn.uwindsor.ca/program-listing#graduate
The winners of the U. Windsor $1000 scholarship for highest grades in the Masters of Actuarial Science Program were

Songqi Li and Fujunhao Ning. (Fall, 2015 intake)
Pramod Purigali Raghavendra Rao and Songyi Liang. (Fall, 2016 intake)
Khoa Pham and Chenyao Yan. (Fall, 2017 intake)
Ziyu Peng and Ya Zhou. (Fall, 2018 intake)
Bixuan Wang and Ruosi Zhang (Fall, 2019 intake)

The Sept 2015 intake had 16 students.
The Sept 2016 intake had 25 students.
The Sept 2017 intake had 21 students.
The Sept 2018 intake had 27 students.
The Sept 2019 intake had 23 students.
The Sept 2020 intake had 17 students.(Blame covid for that.)

WHAT the MActSc Program IS and WHAT it IS NOT

1. The MActSc degree is a course only professional degree. There is no research component. There are no Graduate Assistantship or research assistantship opportunities.
2. Cost is slightly less than 30,000 Canadian dollars (approximately 23,000 U.S dollars) for the entire 4 term (1.5 year) program.
3. The MActSc degree accepts students with a previous 4 year degree which includes a strong quantitattve background. The minimum math background is (a) differential calculus (b) integral calculus (c) linear algebra , all at a science or engineering level - not a business degree level.
For students who have been away from academia for a few years, I recommend reviews of Calculus at
-Differential Calculus - Prof. Leonard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYyARMqiaag&list=PLF797E961509B4EB5
-Integral calculus - (University of California Irvine: Natalia Komarova) http://ocw.uci.edu/courses/math_2b_calculus.html
- Linear Algebra - (Univ. Cincinatti: Trefor Bazett) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHXZ9OQGMqxfUl0tcqPNTJsb7R6BqSLo6
4. The MActSc degree prepares students to take actuarial exams set by the SOA (Society of Actuaries).
5. The MActSc degree covers courses and material that would normally be taught in an undergraduate actuarial science degree. So at the end of the MActSc degree, students are NOT ready or eligible to enter a PhD program in Actuarial Science (not available at U of Windsor). They would be ready to begin a RESEARCH based actuarial science Master's degree (not available at U of Windsor).
6. As indicated in 5, the MActSc degree is normally a terminal degree.
7. The MActSc degree covers only two of the three Society of Actuaries (SOA) VEE requirements. It does not cover the Accounting/Finance component. To satisfy that VEE requirement, students can take online self paced courses from AcTex or from Coaching Actuaries (for a fee). It may also be possible to take VEE acceptable undergraduate courses in accounting/finance, at the U of W during the program (at no extra cost).
8. There is no co-op component to the degree.
9. Most of the students are international students.
10. Some of our (international) students have found actuarial jobs in Canada. Some have returned home and have found their Canadian training helped them enormously in getting jobs in their home countries. Some have found jobs in Canada in related fields, in financial institutions (like banks) or health management.
11. Students generally get 3 year Canadian work visas at the end of the program. If they can find meaningful work in that period, they can apply for Permanent Resident status in Canada.
12. Limited class size. The program tries to keep class size to a maximum of 25 students.

Within the Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
the University of Windsor

is an official exam site of the Society of Actuaries (SOA),
has SOA approval for University of Windsor courses for all off the three VEE (Validation by Educational Equivalent) subjects,
has annual informational visits to the Department of Mathematics and Statistics by Willis Towers Watson, a nearby major actuarial consulting company, and [soon] by Canada Life
has relations with several major actuarial consulting companies in Michigan,

Advantages of U of Windsor

1. Official SOA exam site. For more information on the SOA and its exams, visit
https://www.soa.org
or
https://www.soa.org/education/exam-req/edu-asa-req/
For information about exam P see
http://web2.uwindsor.ca/math/hlynka/actuarialPwebsites.html
For information about exam FM, see
http://web2.uwindsor.ca/math/hlynka/actuarialFMwebsites.html
2. Less expensive housing than other Canadian universities.
3. Great location. Windsor is across the river from Detroit in the USA, with convenient access to the entire east coast of the USA. International students need a visa to enter the USA, which may be easier to obtain before they come to Windsor. Windsor is the most southerly major city in Canada and the climate is milder in winter than the rest of Canada (except Vancouver). Easy access to Toronto, by car, bus, train, plane.
4. High quality instructors, with more access to professors than would be found elsewhere.

As revised for Fall, 2019, the courses for the MActSc program will consist of
COURSES
Year 1 Term 1 (Fall):
ACSC-8010 Probability for Risk and Actuarial Science
ACSC-8020 Financial Mathematics, Theory of Interest
ACSC-8100 Microeconomics

Year 1 Term 2 (Winter):
ACSC-8050 Life Contingencies I
ACSC-8030 Derivatives Markets I
ACSC – 8300 Mathematical Statistics for Actuarial Science

Year 1 Term 3 (Summer):
ACSC-8040 Derivatives markets II
ACSC-8070 Short Term Actuarial Models
ACSC-8200 Regression and Time Series

Year 2 Term 1 (Fall)
ACSC-8060 Life Contingencies II
ACSC – 8400 Actuarial Science Capstone Project
ACSC-8110 Macroeconomics

VEE INFORMATION

The VEE (Verification by Educational Equivalent) courses are as follows. Note that two of the three VEE requirements have been included in course oferings. The following courses have been approved by SOA.
VEE Economics: ACSI 8100, ACSI 8110.
VEE Math Stat ACSI 8300
VEE Finance/Accounting: The MActSc program does not cover this VEE. However, U of Windsor courses FINA 2700 and ACCT 1510 are approved for the VEE in Finance and Accounting. We recommend online self paced courses from Actex or Coaching Actuaries. (Cost = approx $600 U.S.) Another option is to take, with departmental approval, VEE approved undergraduate courses during the program (at no extra cost).

COURSES and SOA EXAM CONNECTIONS:

Courses ACSC 8010 will cover almost all the topics for SOA Exam P.
Course ACSC 8020 covers of the topics needed for SOA Exam FM.
Courses ACSC 8030, 8040 cover exam IFM.
Course ACSC 8070 covers half of the material for exam STAM.
Course ACSC 8200 covers half of the material for exam SRM.
Courses ACSC 8050,8060 cover exam LTAM.

EXAM SITE

The University of Windsor is an exam site for the paper and pencil version of SOA exams P, FM, IFM, SRM, STAM. These exams are more commonly available as computer based exams and the closest site for a computer based version is Detroit (accessible by tunnel bus, must have visa to visit USA). The LTAM exam is paper and pencil format everywhere. The University of Windsor is a site for LTAM exam.

WEB SITE REFERENCES

SOA: http://soa.org

Be An Actuary: http://beanactuary.org

Allowable Calculators: (all Texas Instruments)
BA-35, BA II Plus, BA II Plus Professional, TI-30X, TI-30X II, TI-30X IIB, TI-30XS MultiView, TI-30XB MultiView

U. of Windsor Dept. of Math & Stat:
http://www1.uwindsor.ca/math

U of Windsor SOA Exam dates:

http://web2.uwindsor.ca/math/hlynka/2020dates.pdf

CONTACT

For more information on actuarial study at the University of Windsor, contact the coordinator for the MActSc program
Dr. Myron Hlynka,
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4
519-253-3000 (ext 3014)
hlynka@uwindsor.ca
http://web2.uwindsor.ca/math/hlynka/index

or

Dr. Richard Caron, Chair Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4