Course Information

Check the University Bulletin for listed courses in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

Check the Course Schedules in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

Here is a summary of all related courses and their status. When you plan your schedule, pay attention to those courses that are not offered every semester.

Course No. Course name Semester Required/ recommended Prerequisites
224/225 Calculus I every BA and BS none
226/227 Calculus II every BA and BS 225
230 Honors Calculus every BA and BS (alternative to 226/227) 225
304 Linear Algebra every BA and BS 225
323 Calculus III every BA and BS 227 or 230
330 Number Systems every BA and BS 227 or 230
346 Intro. to Financial Mathematics every BA and BS 227 or 230
404 Advanced Linear Algebra spring only elective 304 and 330
447 Probability Theory every BA and BS 323
448 Mathematical Statistics every BA and BS 330 and 447
450 Long-term Actuarial Math I fall only elective 330, 346, and 447
452 Long-term Actuarial Math II every other spring elective 304 and 450
454 Financial Mathematics occasional elective 346 and 447
455 Intro. to Regression Models spring only elective 329 and 448
457 Intro. to Statistical Learning fall only elective 329 and 448
458 Time Series every other spring elective 448
472 PDE and Mathematical Analysis spring only elective 323, 330 and one of 324, 371, or 372
478 Real Analysis I fall only elective 304, 323, and 330
479 Real Analysis II spring only elective 478
Econ 160 Principles of Microeconomics every BA and BS none
Econ 162 Principles of Macroeconomics every BA and BS none
Econ 360 Microeconomic Theory every BS Econ 160, 220 or 221
Econ 362 Macroeconomic Theory every BS Econ 162
Econ 467 Economic Forecasting every elective (alternative to 458) ECON 362, 366 and 466, MATH 220 or 224/225
Fin 311 Financial Management every No required. May be helpful. Junior Standing and Acct 211, Econ 160 and 162, Math 220 or 224/225
Fin 322 Investments every No required. May be helpful.
Fin 324 Corporate Finance every No required. May be helpful.

Calculus

Calculus is a branch of mathematics that studies continuously changing quantities. A key notion is the passage to the limit: quantities that tend to ultimate values. The basic tools from calculus are differentiation and integration. The methods of calculus are essential to any modern science. Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers the following courses in calculus:

Probability and Statistics

Many problems which an actuary has to deal with are contingent/uncertain events. Probability theory is the branch of mathematics that studies the assignment of probabilities to random events. Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers the following courses in Probability:

Another part of mathematics studying randomness is Statistics. Statistics studies the collection and analysis of data. Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers the following courses in Statistics:

These courses fulfill the Applied Statistics subject and the Mathematical Statistics subject of the VEE requirements. Please see the VEE requirements for more information. These courses also cover partially the syllabi for CAS: Statistics and Probabilistic Models Exam, Construction and Evaluation of Actuarial Models Exam, Statistics for Risk Modeling Exam, and Predictive Analytics.

Financial Mathematics

Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers the following courses in Financial Mathematics:

Actuarial Mathematics

Actuaries use sophisticated probability models. Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers the following courses in actuarial stochastic models:

Economics and Finance

An actuary studies contingent / uncertain events which have financial consequences. Hence he/she must have a good knowledge of Economics and Finance. In addition, VEE requirements include microeconomics, macroeconomics, and corporate finance. The following courses deal with microeconomics and macroeconomics. They fulfill the VEE requirements on the Economics subject:

So far, to fulfill the VEE requirements on the Finance subject, students must take courses from the school of management (SOM):

FIN 311 is open for registration for Harpur students in the Financial Economics major and the Actuarial major. FIN 322 or FIN 324 is not yet open for registration for students out of SOM. Please seek help from your advisor should you want to register for FIN 322 or FIN 324.

Other courses

Other related courses are ECON 466. Introduction to Econometrics; ECON 467. Economic Forecasting; CQS 112. Statistics for Management; ECON 442, Financial Economics.

For computing skills, students can take CS 105, which provides some help on spreadsheets such as Excel, and CS 110, which introduces students to programming using python as the language.