Overview of the School of Insurance and Economics at the University of International Business and Economics and undergraduate programs of 2022

Introduction to the SIE

The School of Insurance and Economics of the University of International Business and Economics is one of the earliest schools in the country to offer professional insurance courses. It has been engaged in the teaching and research of insurance theory and practice since 1951. In 1988, the UIBE set up a bachelor’s major in insurance. In 2007, the School of Insurance and Economics was formally established. During the 70 years of development, it has carried forward the fine traditions of the Department of Insurance at the Financial and Banking Institute of China and the Department of Insurance at UIBE, upheld the concept of innovative development, and inherited the college culture of erudition, integrity, pioneering and enterprising. SIE has become one of the important institutions in the theoretical application research and think tank service in the filed of risk management and insurance, actuarial science, social security, and labor economics (health economics).

In 2016, actuarial science was officially approved by the Ministry of Education as an independent major, marking the establishment of the first bachelor’s major in actuarial science at the School of Insurance and Economics, University of International Business and Economics. In 2019, actuarial science was qualified as the first batch of First-Class majors in Beijing, and in 2020, insurance was selected as a national-level First-Class major. In 2021, the experimental class of actuarial science was eligible for National Plan for Cultivating Top Students in Basic Disciplines 2.0. Currently, the SIE has a postdoctoral research station in applied economics. SIE offers undergraduate programs, secondary discipline master’s programs, and secondary discipline doctoral programs for all three majors, which are all qualified for the national “Double First-Class” disciplines.

The SIE strives to cultivate modern innovative and practical elite talents with global vision and global vision who can take on the great task of national rejuvenation with the first-class disciplines, first-class faculty team, and first-class talent cultivation.

Characteristics in talent cultivations

The SIE has strengthened the construction of the professional curriculum with prominent international characteristics. The University of International Business and Economics has successfully qualified as the UCAP university of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) in North America, obtain the VEE course certification of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) exams for actuaries and introduced LOMA, CPCU, financial planner and other qualification certificate examinations. The SIE offers bilingual and experimental professional courses of high-quality. The use of original English-version textbooks not only cultivates students’ international vision and ability, but also promotes the advanced, forward-looking and international development of courses and teaching materials.

The SIE has established the “2+2” dual degree program of actuarial Science with the University of Kent in the UK, the “2+2", "4+1” and “1+1” programs with the University of Manchester for undergraduates and master students. SIE has signed agreements with St. John’s University and the University of North Carolina in the United States to jointly run a program for students, providing a favorable external environment for the development of students. The SIE at UIBE has also run a Dual Bachelor’s Master’s Program with Temple University in the US. All these provide chances for students to get degrees both at home and abroad. The instructor system has been put into use in the experimental class of actuarial science in order to strengthen the guidance of students’ academic activities. The major-minor and double bachelor’s degree system has also been implemented. As a result, students have made great achievements in scientific research and academic papers. Students have won prizes from many national and international competitions: the first prize in the Mathematical Contest In Modeling, the first prize in the Munich Re Actuarial Mathematics Competition, the first prize in the China Undergraduate Mathematical Contest in Modeling.

Faculty team

Currently, there are 63 members of the faculty of SIE, including 48 full-time teachers (12 professors, 25 associate professors, and 11 lecturers) and 15 staff managing the Party and administrative affairs. The SIE has 11 teachers who have overseas study experience, accounting for 23% of the full-time teachers. In general, teachers have an excellent academic background and professional knowledge. 96% of teachers have a doctoral degree. Teachers under the age of 45 account for 67%. There are also quite a number of Changjiang Young Scholars, Cultural Masters as well as Four Kinds of First Batch talents, Huiyuan Outstanding Scholars, Huiyuan Outstanding young scholars, and Huiyuan Excellent young scholars. The teachers of SIE have a strong influence in the insurance industry as well as in society. They have a variety of social appointments, such as Member of the CPPCC National Committee, advisory expert of the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Executive Director of Asia Pacific of Risk and Insurance Association, Executive director of the China Social Insurance Association, Consulting Experts for the National Healthcare Security Administration of The People’s Republic of China, Recipient of “Beijing Red Flag Medal” (issued to women with great achievements on Mar 8th), popular experts who commented on medical reform expert in 2019, Experts of social security and aging services for the Asian Development Bank. Every year, about 7 teachers would be invited to consult on national or provincial government agencies. Apart from that, the SIE has also invited over 100 famous scholars and experts in insurance to be part-time professors.

Academic Research

From 2011 to 2020, a total number of 247 papers were published in journals of CSSCI, accounting for 22% of the total number of published papers in journals of CSSCI, far ahead of insurance schools from sister universities. In terms of research projects, the SIE has successively undertaken 51 national-level projects and 64 provincial-level and ministerial-level projects, including 29 projects funded by the National Social Science Fund and 14 projects funded by the National Natural Science Fund. The SIE has also successively undertaken 30 projects funded by the Ministry of Education and 19 other provincial-level and ministerial-level projects. As for rewards, the SIE has won many provincial-level and ministerial-level scientific research awards, including the first and second prizes for outstanding achievements in philosophy and social sciences in Beijing, and the third prize for outstanding achievements in social science research in universities of China. The SIE has submitted a total number of 121 reports to government agencies and social agencies, of which 16 reports were commented by vice prime minsters, 32 reports by provincial-level and ministerial-level leaders. 66 reports were adopted by the departments concerned.

Career placement

The SIE Graduates are of high performance and consequently the employment rate is very high. And their plans after graduation are highly consistent with the talent cultivation goal of the SIE. Over 70% of undergraduates choose to further their studies in prestigious national (20%) and international (50%) universities. The employment rate of students of 2021 is 98.21%, ranking first in all schools at UIBE. For the past three years, 65% of undergraduates have continued their studies in graduate schools. 70.25% of undergraduates of 2023 have received offers from graduate schools， 3% higher than the average rate of UIBE. 50.63% of undergraduates of 2023 have received offers from overseas universities, ranking second in all schools at UIBE. 51.03% of undergraduates of 2022 have received offers from overseas universities, ranking first in all schools at UIBE. Over 50% of these offers are from the top 50 of the QS World University Rankings such as Oxford University, Cambridge University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Columbia University, Cornell University, University of Chicago, and New York University. 2/3 of students who chose to work in companies are now in the financial industry. The companies that graduates are now working for include: state-owned banks, joint-equity commercial banks, China Life Insurance, PICC, Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, New China Life Insurance Company, China Pacific Insurance, and other well-known insurance companies. They are growing into the backbone of the financial industry, especially the insurance industry.

Introduction to undergraduate programs

Insurance major (Four-year Bachelor of Economics): this discipline belongs to the national double First-Class discipline. This major is qualified as a national First-Class undergraduate major, and it ranks at the forefront of the country. It has a long history and is one of the earliest universities in China to offer insurance courses, with profound school experience and excellent teachers, who have international vision and diverse research interests. The talent cultivation system is featured by deep integration of industry and school. The SIE has close contacts with various insurance companies, financial institution headquarters, and regulatory agencies. Students have innovation consciousness and a high overall performance, which can be confirmed by the career placement every year. The SIE set this major for the purpose of cultivating students into interdisciplinary talents with solid economic and financial knowledge, knowledge of the risk management theory of families and companies, the management skills of financial institutions such as insurance companies and banks, an international perspective, innovative capability and operational skills. They would meet the requirements of various financial institutions at home and abroad, risk management departments of large and medium-sized enterprises, financial regulatory agencies, and other institutions.

Main courses: risk management, insurance, property and liability insurance, life and health insurance, monetary finance, risk management of enterprises, employee benefit plan, big data analysis and insurance, reinsurance, insurance asset allocation, insurance company management, etc.

Actuarial science major (Four-year Bachelor of Science): This discipline belongs to the national double First-Class discipline, and this major is qualified as the First-Class major in Beijing. The SIE set this major to meet the urgent needs of the market and cultivate high-end actuarial and risk management talents with solid actuarial and risk management skills, international academic vision, and a keen sense of innovation. Graduates would be qualified to work in the position of actuaries, actuarial management, and data analysis of insurance with the skills of empirical analysis， asset and liability management, budget planning, product development, reserve valuation, risk management, C-ROSS analysis, IFRS analysis, etc.

UIBE and the University of Kent in the UK jointly run a four-year (2+2) university dual degree program in Actuarial Science. UIBE and the University of Manchester in the UK jointly run a four-year university dual bachelor(2+2) degree program in Actuarial Science, a concurrent(4+1) bachelor and master of science program with bachelor studies here in Beijing, and MSc studies in the UK. UIBE has also run a Dual Bachelor’s Master’s Program (3+2) with Temple University in the US.

Main courses: interest theory, financial mathematics, stochastic mathematical methods, Life Contingencies, non-life insurance actuarial science, survival model, actuarial intelligence, etc.

Labor Economics and Social Security Major (Four-year Bachelor of Management Science) : This discipline belongs to the national double First-Class discipline. The SIE set this major in order to cultivate talent with solid management knowledge, economic knowledge and proficient English skills, both theory and operational skills of social security management, human resourses management, and fund allocation management (pension planning and management, social security fund operation and management). Graduates would have an international perspective, proficient English skills, solid labor economics and social security knowledge, and cross-cultural communication skills, and be competent for international positions. They can be qualified as professionals and senior managers with theoretical and practical knowledge of economics, management, and finance. They can also be competent in managing government agencies(including the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission), insurance companies, labor and social security consulting companies, banks, and other financial institutions.

Main courses: Principles of Social Security, Employee Welfare Plan, Enterprise Annuity Theory and Practice, Social Security Fund Management, Human Resource Management, International Comparison of Social Security, Labor and Social Security Law, Labor Economics, etc.

Introduction to the Experimental class (for students who are currently studying in the SIE only)

Actuarial Science and Risk Management Experimental Class (Four-year Bachelor of Science) : This discipline belongs to the National double First-Class discipline, and this major is qualified as the First-Class major in Beijing. The experimental class aims to cultivate talents with a solid foundation in mathematics and English, and broad basic knowledge in economics, finance, insurance, statistics, and other related fields. They would master the latest actuarial and risk management theories and methods, and have the ability to engage in actuarial and risk management. They would be talents with research skills in the field of actuarial science and risk management, international vision, and innovative spirits. The features of the experimental class are as follows: 1. Interdisciplinary courses: the SIE focuses on cultivating students’ comprehensive ability of research and application of theories, innovative thinking awareness; 2. Bilingual core courses; 3. International dual degree program: Through the joint program of UIBE and the University of Kent, University of Manchester, Temple University, and other internationally renowned universities in the United States, students in this experimental class are given priority to apply for the undergraduate “2+2” and master’s “1+1” and “3+2” concurrent programs, encouraged to participate in short-term exchange international exchanges to cultivate their international and forward-looking vision mindset; 4. Actuarial qualification examination: the SIE encourages students to take the actuaries exams of SOA, IFoA, and CAA; 5. Shortlisted in the Ministry of Education’s Six Excellence and One Outstanding” talent training plan 2.0: It is also a training base for top-notch students in basic economic disciplines. The SIE carries out research-based teaching and top-notch talent training through the professional curriculum and the instructor system. There will be 30 students in the experimental class. All freshmen of the SIE can apply for it. Applicants will take a test. Admission will be based on the test scores.

International exchanges

The SIE has extensive connections with prestigious universities outside China, which shows its international characteristic. It has established the “2+2” dual degree program of actuarial Science with the University of Kent in the UK, the “2+2", "4+1” and “1+1” programs with the University of Manchester for undergraduates and master students. UIBE has also run a Dual Bachelor’s and Master’s Program with Temple University in the US. All these provide chances for students to get degrees both at home and abroad. The SIE has invited professors from Oxford University, Harvard Medical School, University of Toronto, Leuven University, Bayesian Business School (formerly Cass Business School), University of Washington, Boston University, Michigan State University, Texas A&M University, Athens University of Economics and Business, University of Calgary to give lectures during the international semester, which contributes to talent cultivation. Multi-level cooperation including short-time visits and dual degree programs offers an advantageous external environment for the all-round development of students.