Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• MET AT 542: Introduction to Group Insurance
  This course covers the application of basic actuarial principles to group life and group health financial security systems. Material covered will include the purpose of these systems, financial security product design and development, underwriting and risk management, premium determination, and the funding and valuation of group life and group health financial security systems. Group insurance systems in the United States will be emphasized, but the course will also review the Canadian health system.
• MET AT 543: Introduction to Property and Casualty Insurance
  This course covers Property & Casualty Industry from an actuarial science perspective. Topics include the theory of insurance including insurable risks, calculation of premiums on those risks, payment of losses on the inevitable claims, the history of the insurance industry with a focus on court cases that shaped the current regulatory structure; and the basic policy structures of homeowners, automobile, and liability insurance; and reinsurance.
• MET AT 544: Introduction to Pension Mathematics
  Prerequisites: MET MA 581 or CAS MA 581; MET AT 521; or consent of instructor. This course covers the basics of pension plans, including design and funding. The course addresses pension actuarial funding methods and the use of life contingencies. It discusses computations under each method and its use in pension plans worldwide. Alternative forms of pension payments are also discussed.
• MET AT 545: Introduction to Risk Management
  Learn the concepts and techniques of risk management for actuarial applications, covering the basics of life, pension, health, investments, and Property & Casualty (“P&C”) insurance. You will also explore sources and measures of risk, the risk management process, the tools and methods for risk identification, assessment, and mitigation, and regulatory and ethical aspects of risk management.
• MET AT 722: Finance for Actuaries
  Prerequisites: MET AT 521 - This course builds off of the topics covered in MET AT 521 Financial Mathematics by developing both basic and advanced models of corporate finance. Topics covered include net present value valuation, internal rate of return and profitability index models, capital budgeting models, and efficient market hypotheses. These tools will be used to understand and apply basic principles of option pricing theory, including the Black-Scholes formula with application to binomial lattice valuation. This course helps a student qualify for VEE credit in the “Finance” part of the “Finance and Accounting” VEE from the SoA and CAS.
• MET AT 743: Regression and Time Series
  Prerequisites: CAS MA 582 or MET MA 582 or consent of instructor. Part one of this course will cover simple and multiple regressions, serial correlation, heteroscedasticity, analysis of residuals, and stepwise analysis techniques. Part two will cover time series analysis including smoothing and extrapolation of time series, linear time series models, model building procedure, and forecasting, as well as case studies. The material covered in this course may help students prepare for SoA Exam SRM.
• MET AT 761: Mathematics for Investment and Portfolio Theory
  Prerequisites: MET MA 581 or CAS MA581 and AT 521 This course covers the risk and return characteristics of primary financial products, fundamental principles of modern portfolio theory, term structures, and yield curves, Markowitz Portfolio Selection Model, CAPM and its applications to portfolio management, derivative securities, duration, immunization, and interest rate risk management.
• MET AT 762: Mathematical Finance for Actuarial Science
  Prerequisites: MET MA 581 and MET AT 521 or consent of instructor. Analyze derivative products and their use in insurance and risk management strategies. You will also learn selected aspects of rational valuation of derivative products like put-call parity, binomial option, and Black Scholes option pricing model.
• MET AT 771: Advanced Long-Term Actuarial Mathematics
  Prerequisites: MET AT 531 or consent of instructor. - This course continues with the development of long-term financial models introduced in MET AT 531. Insurance Reserves are introduced, including methods for determining reserves, the impact of actuarial assumptions on the calculations, and the effect of real-world results that do not match those assumed. Multiple life and multiple decrement models are introduced, as are Multiple State/Markov Chains and pension mathematics. The material covered in this course may help students prepare for SoA Exam ALTAM.
• MET AT 781: Advanced Short-Term Actuarial Mathematics
  Prerequisites: MET AT 531 or consent of instructor. Continue with the development of short-term financial models introduced in MET AT 531. This course addresses severity, frequency, and aggregate models, and evaluation of both complete and incomplete data. It also covers mathematical models for specific types of insurance, such as medical, automobile, and disability insurance. Credibility models comprise the final topic for the course, and the Classical, Bühlmann-Straub, and Bayesian methods are discussed. The material covered in this course may help you prepare for the SoA Exam ASTAM.
• MET AT 799: Capstone in Actuarial Science
  Restrictions: only for students in the final semester of the MS in Actuarial Science degree program. - The capstone is an opportunity to integrate what you have learned in your actuarial courses to help you better understand how these topics apply in today¿s insurance and financial environment. You will use actuarial principles from the MS in Actuarial Science program to collaborate with classmates on a successful research project, which will review problems faced by insurance companies and other actuarial-relevant companies from an integrated perspective and develop solutions. Your final paper and presentation will be assessed by an audience including your instructor, peers, and professional actuaries.
• MET AT 981: Internship in Actuarial Science 1
  Prerequisites: MET AT 722, MET AT 531, cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher, and consent of instructor. The course is offered to students who seek practical applications of actuarial principles in insurance companies, financial institutions, pension consulting firms, and other related fields. Participation in an internship program within the industry is required.
• MET AT 982: Internship in Actuarial Science 2
  Prerequisites: MET AT 531, MET AT 722, cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher, and consent of instructor. The course is offered to students who seek practical applications of actuarial principles in insurance companies, financial institutions, pension consulting firms, and other related fields. Participation in an internship program within the industry is required.
• MET AT 990: Seminar in Actuarial Science
  Seminars are offered for special topics related to actuarial science, life insurance, casualty insurance, insurance medicine, mortality and mobility, health outcomes, economics, policy, pension, social insurance, mathematical finance, statistics, and other related fields. Variable cr.
• MET AT 991: Directed Studies 1
  The course is offered to students who plan to engage in special research topics under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Application is made through the Department of Actuarial Science.
• MET AT 992: Directed Studies 2
  The course is offered to students who plan to engage in special research topics under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Application is made through the Department of Actuarial Science.
• MET BB 421: Biochemistry 1
  Undergraduate prerequisites: CASCH204 OR CASCH212 OR CASCH214 or equivalent. Introductory biochemistry for majors. Protein structure and folding, enzyme mechanisms, kinetics, and allostery; nucleic acid structure; macromolecular biosynthesis with emphasis on specificity and fidelity; lipids and membrane structure; carbohydrate structure, vitamins and coenzymes. Three hours lecture, one hour pre-lab discussion, four hours lab. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking, Teamwork/Collaboration. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Quantitative Reasoning II
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• MET BB 422: Biochemistry 2
  Undergraduate prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) AND CASBB 421 or equivalent.- Cell metabolism, with special emphasis on the uptake of food materials, the integration and regulation of catabolic, anabolic, and anaplerotic routes, and the generation and utilization of energy. Lectures include consideration of intermediary metabolism in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms with clinical correlations. Three hours lecture, one hour pre-lab discussion, four hours lab. Effective Spring 2025 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• MET BI 105: Introductory Biology for Health Sciences
  Principles of biology: emphasis on cellular structure, heredity, development, and organic evolution. Intended for nonmajors as well as for those concentrating in the health and paramedical sciences. Laboratory course. Three hours lecture, two hours lab. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Scientific Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Quantitative Reasoning I
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Scientific Inquiry I
• MET BI 107: Biology 1: Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior
  Assumes year of high school biology and chemistry. For premedical students and students who plan to concentrate in the natural sciences. Required of biology concentrators. It is recommended that MET CH 101 and CH 102 be taken prior to or concurrently with this sequence. Each course has three hours lecture and three hours lab. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Quantitative Reasoning I
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Scientific Inquiry I