ASA Pathway Changes and Transition Information

Announced July 12, 2021

The SOA is making changes to the ASA curriculum to meet employer and market demand for actuarial education. Read more about the reasons for the changes and other Education news in the July 2021 SOA Announcement on ASA Curriculum Changes.

Frequently Asked Questions are also available about these changes.

Learning Objectives and Outcomes for Revised Exams P and FM

The final syllabus for the revised Exam P is now available on the Exam P home page. The first administration of the revised Exam P will be September 2022.

The final syllabus for the revised Exam FM is now available on the Exam FM home page. The first administration of the revised Exam FM will be October 2022. Please note that the length of the revised Exam FM has been shortened from 3 hours to 2.5 hours and from 35 to 30 questions. Instant results will continue to be available for this exam.

Module Objectives for New ASA Modules

See the learning objectives for the new Pre-Actuarial Foundations and Actuarial Science Foundations e-Learning modules on the pages linked below.

Pre-Actuarial Foundations Module home page
Actuarial Science Foundations Module home page

Learning Objectives and Outcomes for New FAM, ALTAM, and ASTAM Exams

The final syllabus for the new Fundamentals of Actuarial Mathematics (FAM) exam is now available on the FAM Exam home page. The first administration of FAM will be October 2022 and then March, July, and November each year.

The final syllabus for the new Advanced Long-Term Actuarial Mathematics (ALTAM) exam is now available on the ALTAM Exam home page. The first administration of ALTAM will be Spring 2023.

The final syllabus for the new Advanced Short-Term Actuarial Mathematics (ASTAM) exam is now available on the ASTAM Exam home page. The first administration of ASTAM will be Spring 2023.

Learning Objectives for the New Advanced Topics in Predictive Analytics (ATPA) Exam

See the new ATPA home page for the new syllabus/learning objectives.

Requirements Comparison

The following table summarizes the changes from the current to the new ASA requirements.

CURRENT	NEW
VEE Economics	VEE Economics
VEE Accounting and Finance	VEE Accounting and Finance
VEE Mathematical Statistics	VEE Mathematical Statistics
Exam P – 3 hours MC*	Exam P – 3 hours MC
Exam FM – 3 hours MC	Exam FM – 2.5 hours MC
Exam IFM – 3 hours MC	Exam removed
Exam LTAM – 4.25 hours MC and WA* Exam STAM – 3.5 hours MC	Exam FAM – 3.5 hours MC Exam ALTAM or ASTAM – 3 hours WA
Exam SRM – 3.5 hours MC	Exam SRM – 3.5 hours MC
Exam PA – 5.25 hours WA	Exam PA – 5.25 hours WA
n/a	Exam ATPA – TH*
n/a	Pre-Actuarial Foundations e-Learning Module – TH
n/a	Actuarial Science Foundations e-Learning Module – TH
FAP – eight TH assessments	FAP – five TH assessments
APC – Seminar	APC - Seminar

*MC = multiple choice     WA = proctored written-answer   TH = take home written-answer

Transition Rules

The following table summarizes the transition credit for current components of the ASA pathway.

CURRENT COMPONENT	PROVIDES CREDIT FOR
VEE Economics	VEE Economics
VEE Accounting and Finance	VEE Accounting and Finance
VEE Mathematical Statistics	VEE Mathematical Statistics
Exam P	Exam P
Exam FM	Exam FM
Exam SRM	Exam SRM
Exam PA	Exam PA
Exam IFM	See IFM/ATPA Considerations Below
Exam LTAM	Exam FAM-L and Exam ALTAM
Exam STAM	Exam FAM-S and Exam ASTAM
FAP	See FAP Considerations Below
APC	APC

IFM/ATPA Considerations

The requirements for ASA, and therefore for FSA by implication, will be having credit for either IFM or ATPA. Any candidate earning an ASA based on IFM will not be required to pass ATPA to earn an FSA. In 2022, candidates will have a choice of these two exams, but starting in 2023, only ATPA will be available.

Additional LTAM/STAM Considerations

For two years (administrations from October 2022 through July 2024), Exam FAM will be split into two pieces, each being 1.75 hours with 20 multiple-choice questions. Candidates with FAM-L credit must pass FAM-S during that period or else be required to pass the full FAM at a later date. Similarly, candidates with FAM-S credit have two years to pass FAM-L. Candidates without FAM-L or FAM-S credit must take only the full FAM exam and will pass or fail that exam in its entirety.

Example 1: A candidate passed LTAM in 2020 and has not yet begun preparing for STAM. This candidate is eligible to take FAM-S. If the candidate passes FAM-S by the end of July 2024, they will have completed their actuarial mathematics requirements. After July 2024, this candidate would need to sit the full Exam FAM to complete the requirement.

Example 2: A candidate has not passed STAM or LTAM yet but is preparing for STAM. If this candidate passes STAM, then they would be eligible to take FAM-L to complete their actuarial mathematics requirements. If they do not pass STAM by the last administration in June 2022, then they would need to complete the full Exam FAM and ASTAM.

FAP/Pre-Actuarial Foundations/Actuarial Science Foundations e-Learning Module Considerations

FAP will continue to be offered in its current form to those candidates who purchased FAP before January 31, 2022. Through December 31, 2025, candidates who purchased FAP before January 31, 2022 will be able to earn an ASA either by continuing to complete the eight-module FAP or by completing the Pre-Actuarial Foundations and Actuarial Science Foundations e-Learning Modules in combination with certain FAP modules as described below:

• Pre-Actuarial Foundations e-Learning Module or FAP Module 1: Introduction/ Role of the Professional Actuary and Module 2: Core External Forces;
• Actuarial Science Foundations e-Learning Module or FAP Module 4: Actuarial Solutions; and
• FAP Module 3: Risk in Actuarial Problems, Module 5: Design and Pricing of an Actuarial Solution, Module 6: Model Selection and Solution Design, Module 7: Selection of Initial Assumptions, Module 8: Monitoring Results, and the Final Assessment.

Note the following prerequisites for the new e-Learning modules:

• Candidates must have credit for exams P and FM to register for the Pre-Actuarial Foundations Module.
• Candidates must have credit for the Pre-Actuarial Foundations module, as well as exams SRM and FAM to register for the Actuarial Science Foundations Module.

No later than January 31, 2025, FAP will be streamlined to five e-Learning modules total, plus the Final Assessment. At that point, FAP modules 1, 2 and 4 will no longer be available, so the Pre-Actuarial Foundations and Actuarial Science Foundations e-Learning Modules will be needed to earn ASA. The timing affords three years to any candidate who began FAP prior to January 31, 2022, which is the time allotted to complete FAP without having to start over.

The SOA recommends completing the e-Learning modules plus the remaining modules of FAP. For any interested candidates, this will also make them eligible for the micro-credentials in Pre-Actuarial Foundations and Actuarial Science Foundations.

Timing

The following are the dates for beginning/ending pathway components.

Component	Timing
Exam P	No change, offered every other month
Exam FM	No change, offered every other month
Exam IFM	Last administration November 2022
Exam LTAM	Last administration Spring 2022
Exam STAM	Last administration June 2022
Exam FAM	First administration October 2022 and then March, July and November each year
Exam ALTAM	First administration Spring 2023, offered twice per year
Exam ASTAM	First administration Spring 2023, offered twice per year
Exam ATPA	Open for module registration January 2022, first assessment available June 2022, offered two to three times per year
Pre-Actuarial Foundations e-Learning Module	Available January 2022
Actuarial Science Foundations e-Learning Module	Available January 2022

Note regarding the timing above:

• Extended availability of IFM to the end of 2022 gives candidates who have prepared for or would prefer to take this exam several opportunities to pass it.