“There’s been this upward pressure from the students but also the industry,” he said.

When insurance companies collect premiums on customers’ plans, an actuary determines the dollar amount of profit and loss for the carrier, said Andrew Ruf, account representative for Michael Church State Farm Insurance.

“They’re really the key component, the stone foundation,” he said. “If you don’t have a good actuary, it could mean a loss for the company.”

A specialization program has been offered at MSU since about 2002 and during the past three or four years, discussions have come up to offer a bachelor’s degree, Cohen said. The program will continue to be available when the degree is offered to students, he said.

More than 100 students are signed up for the specialization program this fall, Cohen said.

“This is one of the most desired degrees to get, so we had a lot of competition (with) Ferris State (University), Oakland (University) and (the University of Michigan),” he said. “We have such a huge insurance industry here in Michigan, and they are hiring a lot of MSU graduates.”

During a student’s actuarial education, he or she takes the appropriate finance, math and statistics programs prior to taking several exams toward admittance as a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, finance senior Trevor Logan said.

“If you want a good job or internship, you most likely would want to pass one or two exams,” Logan said. “The point of having the full major … is basically to make more courses that are geared toward helping students (be) prepared for these exams.”

As a senior and president of the MSU Actuarial Science Club, he said he would not be able to fulfill the requirements of the degree — which include additional courses in finance, math and statistics — but younger underclassmen would have these new opportunities.

With a number of insurance companies across the state and new laws passed regarding insurance policies, the degree program might attract more students to the university who graduate and work locally, Ruf said.

“For (MSU) to be able to offer a program (when) every company, business, (and) person has to have insurance, it’s a huge benefit,” he said.