Which CE Requirements Apply to Me?

Actuaries may sometimes wonder which continuing education (CE) requirements they need to meet, as the different actuarial organizations have different CE requirements. Two questions can help you determine the answer:

1. Are you a member of any of the five U.S.-based actuarial organizations that have adopted the Code of Professional Conduct—the American Academy of Actuaries, American Society of Enrolled Actuaries, the Casualty Actuarial Society, the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, or the Society of Actuaries?
2. Do you practice in the United States?

If the answer to these questions is “yes,” the Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion in the United States (USQS), promulgated by the American Academy of Actuaries, is the standard you need to meet. To help actuaries better understand the CE require­ments, the Academy has updated the infographic “What CE Requirements Apply to Me?” to align with the recently revised USQS, which took effect Jan. 1, 2022, for statements of actuarial opinion issued Jan. 1, 2023.

The revised USQS still requires actuaries to earn 30 hours of “relevant” CE each year, including 6 hours of organized activity, 3 hours of professionalism, and no more than 3 hours of general business skills. But a new require­ment—1 hour of bias topics—has been added. According to the USQS, “Bias topics include content that provides knowledge and perspective that assist in identifying and assessing biases that may exist in data, assumptions, algorithms, and models that impact Actuarial Services. Biases may include but are not limited to statistical, cognitive, and social biases.”

You may also want to note that the definition of “relevant CE” has been expanded to include material that exposes you to new and evolving techniques for addressing actuarial issues, as well as material that broadens or deepens your understanding of your work, expands your knowledge of practice in related disciplines that bear directly on your work, or facilitates your entry into a new area of practice. As before, it is ultimately your responsibility to determine what CE is relevant to you.

If, after reviewing the USQS, FAQs on the U.S. Qualification Standards, and the infographic, you still have questions about the qualification standards, you can always submit a question to the Committee on Qualifications or submit a request for guidance from the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline.