The nation’s largest professional organization for actuaries has extended Drake University’s designation as a Center for Actuarial Excellence. Only 16 colleges and universities in the United States and 26 in the world hold the Society of Actuaries’ prestigious designation.
Centers for Actuarial Excellence meet eight rigorous criteria and specific requirements related to degree, curriculum, graduate count, faculty composition, graduate quality, appropriate integration, connection to industry and research/scholarship in order to qualify for the distinction.
“We are thrilled to once again be recognized as one of the nation’s top programs for actuarial science education,” said Terri Vaughan, dean of the College of Business and Public Administration. “Because of Drake’s elite status and stellar reputation, corporations from around the world recruit Drake students and recent graduates for internships and jobs.”
Drake’s actuarial science program combines traditional math and statistics courses with a solid foundation in business. Every undergraduate student within Drake University’s College of Business and Public Administration completes at least one professional work experience prior to graduation; 98.8 percent of the college’s bachelor degree recipients in 2013-14 held full-time employment or had enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation.
Drake was one of the original 12 colleges and universities to receive the Center for Actuarial Excellence designation in 2009. The renewable designation runs through December 2020.