At AU, low faculty-to-student ratios and mathematics professors with extensive teaching experience provide a supportive, challenging catalyst for our math major with three math concentrations and a pre-engineering program. Whichever direction you choose, your degree will equip you to enter a career that heavily uses math or to pursue a graduate degree in math or other programs that require analytical thinking: law, business or more.
A few of the careers for which a math degree prepares you for include:
- Math teacher in secondary education
- Insurance actuary
- NASA mathematician
- Professor of mathematics
Programs
You can customize your math major by choosing between three concentrations–or a dual degree program–each of which provides a solid foundation in pure math.
Pure Math: This concentration is an excellent fit if you want to find employment at major organizations, such as NASA, which places a premium on mathematics, or if you want to study math in graduate school or become a math professor. Classes include abstract algebra, advanced calculus, complex variables and a senior research project. This concentration is as much about discovery as it is about math usage.
Actuarial: Actuaries work in the insurance industry, using math to calculate risk and provide policies that reflect that risk. Their work is crucial to offering the right insurance products to the right people. This concentration will prepare you to pass your first actuary credentialing exam before you graduate. You’ll gain a firm grasp of the way mathematics, accounting and statistics influence decisions about risk.
Secondary Math Education: This concentration gives you a powerful repertoire of pure math knowledge and educational theory and practice. Your coursework and professors will send you into your teaching career as a well-trained mathematician and educator. Classes include linear algebra, differential equations and courses from AU’s College of Education.
Mathematics & Engineering: This dual-degree program enables you to study advanced math and engineering to prepare you for success in any field that requires high-level quantitative thinking and engineering skills. In this program with Clemson University’s College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences, you earn the B.S. in Mathematics & Engineering from AU after your fourth year and a B.S. in the engineering discipline of your choice from Clemson after the fifth year.
Math Club
The Math Club is a student-led club of 30-50 students. The group meets once a month to listen to guest speakers from fields discuss the connection between mathematics and careers. Also, you can talk with upperclassmen about the rigors of the program, what to expect and how to succeed. The club is well-known for its celebration of Pi Day, as well as a faculty-hosted, end-of-the-year party for graduating seniors.
Internships
The mathematics training you receive at AU is a tremendous asset in your search for internships. AU students have landed a NASA internship and participated in the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at the University of Central Florida’s Nanoscience Technology Center.
