On May 14, 2018 the China Institute for Actuarial Science (CIAS) received confirmation that our actuarial program has been designated as a Center of Actuarial Excellence (CAE) by the Society of Actuaries. As a result, CUFE becomes the first and the only (to-date) university among the universities in mainland China to receive such a prestigious recognition.
The bar for qualifying as a CAE is high. The criteria include university commitment to the program, quality of the professors in term of teaching and research, program’s integration between theory and practice, students’ success in passing professional examinations, students’ employability, alumni’s and employers’ feedback, and many others. It requires submitting a formal application, followed by a series of validation and vetting, including an on-site visit to the campus. While CIAS had devoted more than two years in preparing the CAE application, the approval of CAE recognition signifies that our level of actuarial education has met the international standard, and this is an important milestone in our internationalization initiative and “Double First Class” implementation.
The following paragraph is excerpted from the SOA’s CAE committee:
“The CEC was impressed with the integration of business and communication courses in the program, as well as the focus on English language preparation. It is clear that the graduates of the program are well prepared for work as actuaries through the extensive connections CUFE has built with industry. The internship programs available, as well as the focus on teamwork at CUFE, have likely had a strong impact on student readiness. We also note the very strong faculty engaged in the program, with many actively publishing actuarial research. We were also pleased to see that even the undergraduate students have many opportunities to be involved in research.”
