Actuarial Science and Financial Mathematics is an area of study that manages risk in the financial and government sector and industries. Specifically, it involves analyzing risk data and making informed decisions from it. It is a multidisciplinary study that combines four major areas (Mathematics, Statistics, Finance, and Insurance) into one. A graduate of the program is able to contribute to all areas of Saudi Arabian and international financial sectors as well as the government sector where the objective of minimization of risk is the main daily focus.
An actuary is a professional who analyzes the financial consequences of risk. Actuaries use mathematics, statistics, financial theory and insurance to study uncertain future adverse events, and decrease the impact of those future loss events. Actuaries are an integral part of the management team of companies that employ them. Their work requires a combination of strong analytical skills, business knowledge and understanding of human behavior to design and manage programs that control risk. A graduate typically finds employment in private and government sectors and industry that deals with activities such as investment, insurance, pension funding, financial consulting, or healthcare funding. The actuarial profession has been rated the best career for several years in the USA (e.g. rated the best career in 2010 by the Wall Street Journal). Graduates of such programs typically find no issues in finding a good first job. With some professional exams, graduates may face a different but welcome job dilemma of choosing which company to enlist with.
The objective of the BS program in Actuarial Science and Financial Mathematics is to prepare students for a career as an actuary or financial risk manager. In addition, the program also prepares the students for international professional society examinations. The program has a good balance of theory, applications and data analysis, as well as carefully selected sequences of courses from computer science, economics, accounting, mathematics, statistics, finance, and risk management. This interdisciplinary approach is meant to make the program flexible and give the students a broad based education. The program also prepares students for further graduate study in any area of Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Actuarial Science, Finance, or Business.