Actuarial Science Colleges in India: Know Eligibility, Admission Process & more

Actuarial Science is getting a lot of rage in India. It is a field that considers the financial risks in the finance and insurance field, using mathematics and statistical methods. Read on this Shiksha article to learn about Actuarial Science courses, top colleges, eligibility criteria and more. 

In India, the demand for Actuaries is increasing by the day for people who practice or study actuarial science. The global pandemic impacted various sectors especially the Financial Services Sector, which increased the need for these skilled professionals. So, for candidates who wish to work in different sectors such as insurance, banking and other financial institutions and to fulfil the demand and supply gap, there are diverse list of top colleges/ universities in India, offering Graduation and Post-graduation degree courses in Actuarial Sciences.

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The Actuarial Profession is switching to newer functions in addition to the traditional ones. As the competition is rising by the day, the Actuaries syllabus also needs an update to keep up with the new changes. Keeping this in mind, a lot of colleges in India have introduced new methods and other techniques with concepts to meet the standards.

Who is an Actuary?

Generally, an Actuary uses statistical and financial techniques to provide solutions for real business problems, especially the ones involving risk management. But what makes them exceptional is their natural mathematical, economic and statistical aptitude, awareness and proficiency to apply these to solutions in the real financial world. 

When a candidate becomes a member of the Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI), he already has some of the skills needed to make him/her an excellent actuary. As he/she keeps appearing for one exam after another, they cultivate the skills that make them a successful actuary. It takes a lot of practice, patience and determination to become successful in this field.

Popular Actuarial Science Courses

Some of the UG & PG Courses offered by the colleges in India are tabulated below:

UG Actuarial Science Courses in India	PG Actuarial Science Courses in India
BSc in Actuarial Science	MSc in Actuarial Science
BA (Hons) in Insurance & Banking	Master’s Programme in Insurance Business
BSc in Actuarial and Financial Mathematics	MBA in Actuarial Sciences
(-)	MSc in Statistics (Actuarial)
(-)	Postgraduate Diploma in Actuarial Science

Note: Practicing actuary after obtaining a Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Actuarial Science does not make a candidate eligible for it. These courses help to clarify and make the concepts and their application better once the candidate starts practising.

Actuarial Science: Eligibility and Admission Procedure

The admission procedure to various Actuarial Sciences programmes in India is quite simple. There are two routes to take admissions viz. ACET exam or Non-ACET. A brief about the same is given below -

Route 1: Actuarial Common Entrance Test (ACET)

For admission to IAI, the candidates have to appear for the Actuarial Common Entrance Test (ACET). Highlights of the exam are given below:

• Mode of exam: Online (computer-based)

• Duration of exam: 3-hour (180 minutes)

• Type of Questions: MCQs

• Total no. Of Questions: 70 with one correct answer and no provision of negative marking for incorrect answers

• Distribution of questions: 45 questions (1 mark each), 20 questions (2 marks each) and 5 questions (3 marks each)

• Name of Sections in ACET and allocation of marks: Mathematics (30 marks), Statistics (30 marks), Data Interpretation (15 marks), English (15 marks) and Logical Reasoning (10 marks)

Note: The qualifying marks for the entrance exam i.e. ACET exam is a minimum of 50 per cent marks.

Route 2: Non-ACET Eligibility Criteria: A lot of Institutes have enhanced the criteria for IAI Student Membership and the following qualifications are considered in place of the ACET Examination:

• Fully qualified members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Cost Accountants of India and Institute of Company Secretaries of India

• MBA in Finance (Minimum 60 per cent or equivalent grade)

• IIM/ IIT Graduates

• BSc/MSc in Actuarial Science from a recognized Institute/College.

• BE from a reputed Institute (Minimum 60% or equivalent grade)

• Fellow Member of the Insurance Institute of India.

• Passed two papers from other actuarial bodies’ i.e. Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IfoA)/ Society of Actuaries (SOA)/ Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS)/ The Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA)/ Institute of Actuaries of Australia (IAAust)

• Qualified 1st-year Bsc., MSc. Actuarial Science from Amity University

• Graduation and Post-graduation diploma in Actuarial Science (PGDAS)

• Graduation and Post-graduation diploma in Actuarial Statistics

• Bcom in Actuarial Management Affiliated to Bharathiar UniversityBachelor of Statistics (Honours) [B Stat (Hons)] from Indian Statistical Institute

• Bachelor of Mathematics (Honours) [B Math (Hons)] from Indian Statistical Institute

• Master of Statistics [M Stat] from Indian Statistical Institute

• Master of Mathematics [M Math] from the Indian Statistical Institute

• Master of Science in Quantitative Economics [MS (QE)] from Indian Statistical Institute

• Master of Science in Quality Management Science [MS (QMS)] from Indian Statistical Institute

Note: Given this, a person is eligible for admission if he/she satisfies any of the above criteria. In addition to this, there is no age limit set for the programme as well.

How to Apply?

Here is the detailed step-wise process which gives clarity on how to apply for the course:

Step 1: Visit IAI official website and go to the Sub Tab “Admissions” under the Student Tab
Step 2: Click on, “Student Membership Form” (Applicable for NON-ACET students)
Step 3: Register using your name, Email ID and your Date of Birth in dd-mm-yyyy format
Step 4: Click on the ‘Generate OTP’ Button, the system will send the OTP (One Time Password) to the registered email id
Step 5: Enter the OTP in the box provided for it and click on ‘Get Registration Form’, fill and upload the required details and documents as per the mentioned specifications

Note: The personal details and uploaded photograph are non-editable.

Step 6: On confirmation, make the online payment of fees i.e. Rs 4000, for which you will receive an email from IAI and a successful payment confirmation page (take a print out of this page)

Note: Fees once paid is non-refundable.

Popular Actuarial Science Colleges in India

There are various colleges offering these properly designed programmes of Actuarial Science. The names are listed below:

• Aligarh Muslim University

• Amity School of Insurance and Actuarial Science, Noida

• Chandigarh University

• Christ University, Bengaluru

• Delhi University

• Institute of Actuaries of India, Mumbai

• Kerala University

• NMIMS University, Mumbai

• The National Insurance Academy, Pune

• University of Pune

• University of Madras (UNOM)

Actuarial Science: Jobs and Career Prospects

It is said, career opportunity in this field is globally well recognized. Ideally, the majority of the scope of employment after completing the programme is to get into life insurance companies. But now, the opportunities are on high, as one can very well work in non-life insurance companies like investment consultancies, financial services, banking or stock exchanges too.

Actuaries can also work with various government and private companies. Recently, many of the largest insurance firms employed actuaries as CEOs (Chief Executive Officers). They can also work in BPOs, risk management, academics, pension funds and management consultancy firms.

Actuarial Sciences: Top Recruiters

Listed below are the top recruiters offering jobs to the Actuaries

• IDBI Bank

• Max Bupa Health Insurance

• McKinsey Advanced Healthcare Analytics

• Mercer

• Ernst and Young

• WNS Global Services

• Directorate of Postal Life Insurance

• Swiss Re

• Future Generali India Life Insurance

• PwC Actuarial Services India

Read more:

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• Shifting from CA to Actuarial Sciences

• Actuarial Science: A zero Unemployment Professional Programme