BS/MS in Actuarial Science

The Combined BS/MS Actuarial Science Degree

The combined BS/MS program in Actuarial Science provides an opportunity for outstanding undergraduates to earn both the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and the Master of Science (M.S.) degrees in Actuarial Science over the course of five years, with strong students graduating in as little as four years. This program prepares students for a career in actuarial industry by combining advanced mathematics and computational techniques. As part of the program, students will gain first-hand actuarial research experience by working on an actuarial project in partnership with a local company. The MS in Actuarial Science is only available as part of the combined BS/MS five-year program and is thus only available to currently enrolled UCSB students majoring in Actuarial Science.

Program Requirements

Students will complete 52 units for the BS degree including 44 core required undergraduate units and 8 elective units, and 39 units for the MS degree including 12 core required graduate units and 12 elective units. Students must complete a research thesis project for the degree, which is completed during the course sequence PSTAT 296AB.

More on program requirements...

BS/MS Degree Sheet (.pdf)

BS/MS Degree Sheet (.doc)

Admission

Students interested in the BS/MS program must pre-apply to the department for review by the BS/MS Admissions committee. The B.S./M.S. Program in Actuarial Science requires a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.2. If students are accepted by the department admissions committee, they will formally apply to the program through UCSB's graduate division in order to advance to graduate standing.

Preapplication: Departmental Admission Procedures
  • Electronically submit a graduate departmental pre-application Google Form. This form will ask you to sign into your Google account - Sign into this form using your @ucsb.edu UCSB email account. 
  • The pre-application requires that you submit the names of three faculty members who were your instructors/mentors and are able to provide letters of recommendation at the request of the Actuarial Committee. Please note that we will not require the actual letters of recommendation unless you are admitted to the program at the departmental level.
  • Pre-application deadline: March 31st of your junior year. Students may petition to apply after this time, but no later than two quarters before the student intends to advance to grad status.

Advancing to Graduate Status for Pre-Admitted Students

If students are accepted by the department admissions committee, they will formally apply to the program through UCSB's graduate division in order to advance to graduate standing.

more on admission requirements...

Graduate Status

Students must complete a minimum of 3 quarters in graduate status in order to graduate from the program. In addition, they must maintain a 3.0 GPA.

more on graduate status...

Additional information

At the end of their senior year, students (whether or not admitted to graduate status) have the option of filling out a B.S. graduation form and leaving the program with a B.S. degree if all the B.S. requirements have been met.

Students may substitute attendance in two six-week summer sessions for one of the three academic quarters of required residence (non-consecutive attendance is allowed). A minimum of 2 units per quarter of graduate or upper-division work is required (i.e., 2 units in Session A and 2 units in Session B).

Students receiving financial help should check with the Financial Aid Office about financial aid specifics during the summer. In particulur, full-time status requires 4 units in a summer session.

B.S./M.S. Actuarial Program contacts:

Name
Email
Title
Undergraduate Advisor
Undergraduate Advisor
Hal Pedersen
Director of Actuarial Science Program
Myranda Flores
Student Affairs Manager & Graduate Advisor