Getting college students interested in careers in risk management and insurance isn't the easiest task.

As a result, the Malvern, Pa.-based Institutes, which is affiliated with the CPCU Society, recently launched a collegiate studies for CPCU program. The program is part of a broader insurance industry initiative to draw college students into risk management and insurance, said Peter L. Miller, CEO of the Institutes.

“Our working title is 'engaging the next generation,'” he said. “The collegiate studies is part of a broad initiative. The average age in the industry is about seven to eight years older than people employed in the economy as a whole.”

He said the insurance industry chose the Institutes and Griffith Insurance Education Foundation to spearhead an effort to inform young people about opportunities in the industry.

According to the Institutes, students must complete their coursework at an approved college or university, and they must have earned a “B” or better as the final grade in each class, to qualify for the program. Students who earn two CPCU course waivers and complete “Ethics and the CPCU Code of Professional Conduct” also will earn The Institutes' Collegiate Studies for CPCU Certificate.

For a college to qualify to offer the CPCU program, it must offer a risk management and insurance major, be accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, and use at least 75% of the Institutes' course material in their course content as outlined in the syllabus.

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As of September, more than 260 CPCU course waivers had been granted to students. “Since students apply after taking the courses, there aren't any statistics on who is currently participating on an individual basis,” the Institutes said in an email. Twenty-one colleges and universities participate in the program, with 51 courses approved for credit.

The program has three goals, according to the CPCU Society:

• To help students connect their university educational experience with the competencies demanded of them by future employers;

• To recognize college academic work that aligns with The Institutes' credentialing; and

• To make students more attractive to employers, and make colleges and universities with risk management and insurance programs more attractive to students.

“I'm really enthusiastic about the program,” said David Marlett, chairman of the department of finance, banking and insurance at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.

He said the program gives students a head start on the CPCU curriculum, and noted that the school already used CPCU textbooks in two courses, which is the maximum at each university.

“If we get a student to take one of the exams (for the CPCU courses) they are more likely to continue taking them after they graduate,” Mr. Marlett said.

“Millennials want meaningful work that helps people,” Mr. Miller said. “We need to have a unified voice. That's what we're trying to do. For this industry to be successful going forward, we need to have top notch people by letting young people know what the opportunities are.

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“We wanted to recognize the work that students had completed and help connect that university experience with competence employers would want,” he said. “We also know that many colleges and universities use our materials; we know that academic work can be aligned with what we're doing.

“If they had taken past courses and are more qualified in risk management and insurance, we think that makes them a better potential employee to employers,” he said. “It's kind of a signal to employers that these people are interested in the (insurance) industry. Employers like it because they see somebody who wants to stay in the industry and has some amount of college coming into the industry.”