Waiver Policy

Basic Education Waiver Policy for Actuarial Examinations

The CAS’s Basic Education Waiver Policy addresses the extent to which the CAS will grant waivers of its basic education requirements including Exams 1, 2, and 3F; Online Courses 1 and 2; Course on Professionalism; and Validation by Educational Experience requirements, or their equivalents as defined by the Executive Council.

The Board of Directors agrees that an exam waiver should be considered for verified educational accomplishments, e.g., exams or university courses, required by another actuarial organization that substantially meet the learning objectives of a particular CAS exam with reasonably equivalent rigor and level of mastery of the material. The Board agrees that the alternative should not be required to cover every learning objective that is covered in the CAS syllabus for the particular exam in order to consider a waiver and that other learning objectives covered by the alternative may be considered as substitutes.

In addition to actuarial exam requirements, the CAS may grant waivers for other basic education requirements provided that the educational experience is deemed equivalent in subject matter coverage and depth. For example, the CAS may accept a professionalism course offered by another actuarial organization provided that it is deemed equivalent to the CAS Course on Professionalism or the Executive Council provides a supplement to address any significant CAS requirement that may be lacking. Other examples where CAS requirements may be waived include Online Courses or Validation by Educational Experience requirements. In general, the CAS will not grant waivers for its upper-level exams, i.e., Exams 5 through 9.

The CAS will not grant waiver of all or any portion of its examination requirements for work experience or contribution to actuarial literature.

Under this Policy, the granting of waivers by the Executive Council will be based on the recommendation of the vice president-admissions.

Members of Other Actuarial Organizations

For individuals of actuarial organizations that are a member of the International Association of Actuaries (IAA), the CAS will grant waivers for its preliminary examinations/educational requirements as defined by the Executive Council (CAS Exams 1, 2, and 3F, and Validation by Educational Experience requirements) provided that the organization’s individual member achieved the highest possible designation in that organization and has been practicing as a professional actuary for at least two years subsequent to obtaining the qualification.

Candidates of Other Actuarial Organizations

Actuarial organizations that are full members of the IAA and have an exam-based admissions requirement may request that the CAS grant waivers to its individual candidates for the CAS preliminary examinations/educational requirements—as a cohort for CAS Exams 1, 2, and 3F, and Validation by Educational Experience requirements—based on credit for their examinations that meet certain IAA requirements. An actuarial organization should contact the CAS at exam-waivers@casact.org for the requirements to obtain this approval. All organization submissions are subject to the approval of the vice president-admissions and Executive Council.

Online Courses and VEE

Online Courses: The CAS will grant a waiver of CAS Online Course 1, Risk Management and Insurance Operations, to those who have the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation.

Validation by Educational Experience: Unlike other CAS admissions requirements, the Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) requirements are generally fulfilled outside an actuarial organization. Candidates requesting waiver of any VEE requirements based on actuarial exams should follow the procedure for requesting a waiver. Most candidates, however, will fulfill the VEE requirements through approved educational experiences and must submit the Application for Validation by Educational Experience Credit. Details are provided in the VEE section of this Syllabus.

Waiver Request Process

For a waiver of a CAS admissions requirement that has an approved waiver policy stated above, candidates should present their request to the CAS with appropriate evidence that demonstrates the passing of (or score on) the educational equivalent for which a waiver is requested. Please address all waiver requests to exam-waivers@casact.org.

Requests for waivers for CAS admissions requirements for which there currently is no approved waiver policy are considered on a case-by-case basis. Candidates must present their requests to the CAS and include with their applications documented evidence that demonstrates the asserted equivalence, as well as the appropriate educational policy material of their local actuarial organization or appropriate educational organization. If such material is not included, the CAS will request it from the candidates. The vice president-admissions will review all such requests and, when appropriate, recommend action to the Executive Council.

Society of Actuaries (SOA)

The CAS recognized the SOA exams listed in the chart below. Candidates who check the “Property and Casualty” field on their preliminary exam application will have the results of their exams automatically updated in the CAS candidate database. Candidates who did not check the “Property and Casualty” field can have their exam results verified and updated in the CAS candidate database by completing and returning the Exam Status Change Form.

The CAS recognizes the following exams and the transition rules adopted by the SOA for the changes to their examinations in 2017:

SOA Exam	Waiver Granted for CAS Exam
P (Probability)	1
FM (Financial Mathematics)	2
MFE (Models for Financial Economics)	3F (prior to 7/1/2018)
IFM (Investments and Financial Markets)	3F (after 7/1/2018)
C (Construction of Actuarial Models)	4 (prior to 7/1/2018)

CAS Exam Requirements of SOA Members

An actuary who achieved Fellowship (FSA) or Associateship (ASA) of the SOA by completing the qualification requirements of the SOA, not solely in recognition of membership of another actuarial association, has CAS examination credit for:

Exam 1

Exam 2

Exam 3F (prior to 12/31/2022)

Exam 4 (prior to 7/1/2018)

VEE-Accounting and Finance

VEE-Economics

Therefore, the remaining exams/courses required of an ASA or FSA to achieve ACAS are:

Online Course 1

Online Course 2

Online Course 3 (after 12/31/2022)

Exam MAS-I^†

Exam MAS-II^††

Exam 5

Exam 6

CAS Course on Professionalism

^† If a SOA Member completed SOA Exam MLC and VEE-Applied Statistics prior to 2014, credit for CAS Exam S would be granted under Transition Rules and subsequently Exam MAS-I.

^†† If a SOA Member completed SOA Exam C prior to 7/1/2018, they will receive credit for CAS Exam 4 and subsequently Exam MAS-II.

Important Notes:

The syllabus material covered on CAS Exam 7 is required in addition to ACAS (with credit for current Exam 6-United States) to sign a Statement of Actuarial Opinion, NAIC Property and Casualty Annual Statement, in the United States.
- Regulatory Guidance
At this time, there is no waiver of any other CAS exams based on the SOA’s General Insurance (GI) examination process.

International Waiver Policies

Canadian Institute of Actuaries

The CAS recognizes the exam waivers granted by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries University Accreditation Program for CAS Exams 1, 2 and 3F, and under previous education structures for CAS Exam 4 (see below). The CAS will only grant waivers for CIA UAP exam credits that were awarded based on work at universities in Canada. The list of candidates granted waivers by the CIA is provided to the CAS following the end of a semester. The CAS automatically updates its records. No further action is required of candidates.

Note:

· For Exam 1, starting with courses given in summer of 2019, the CIA UAP will recognize courses completed with a minimum grade requirement at many of the 11 accredited universities in Canada.

· Under previous education structures, the CAS recognized the exam waivers for CAS Exams 3L and LC.

· If a candidate has been granted a waiver for CAS Exam 4 under the University Accreditation Program through course work completed by 12/31/2018, then they will receive credit for CAS Exam 4 and subsequently CAS Exam MAS-II.

Starting in 2019, a candidate completing both the CIA Professionalism Workshop and the Practice Education Course (PEC) will receive credit for the CAS Course on Professionalism.

China Association of Actuaries

The CAS recognizes the preliminary examinations sponsored by the China Association of Actuaries (CAA). Credit will be granted for examinations passed or waived in accordance with examination equivalencies between the CAS syllabus and the syllabi of the China Association of Actuaries.

The CAS will not grant credit for examinations waived on account of academic records achieved in U.S. universities, nor for credit granted to candidates not qualifying directly in obtaining membership through the normal qualification/examination process.

Credit will not be given to Fellows of the CAA who have attained their designation through mutual recognition rather than through the organization’s standard credentialing process. Fellows by mutual recognition should pursue examination waivers based on their original credentials.

The CAS has approved the following waiver policy:

CAA Exam	Waiver Granted for CAS Exam/Educational Experience
A1	Exam 1
A2	Exam 2
A3	Exam MAS-I
A4	VEE-Economics
A7	VEE-Accounting and Finance

Note: Waivers granted under the previous “cohort” policy will not be revoked.

Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (U.K.), Actuaries Institute (Australia), Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA), and Institute of Actuaries of India Examinations

The CAS recognizes some of the examinations sponsored by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (United Kingdom), Actuaries Institute (Australia), Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA), and the Institute of Actuaries of India. Credit will be granted for examinations passed or waived in accordance with examination equivalencies between the CAS syllabus and the syllabi of each of the aforementioned actuarial organizations.

Credit will not be given to Fellows of these actuarial organizations who have attained their designation through mutual recognition rather than through the organization’s standard credentialing process. Fellows by mutual recognition should pursue examination waivers based on their original credentials.