1. Is there a need for a risk management and insurance degree program on Long Island?

Long Island contains almost 3 million residents and it is certainly large enough to justify its own RIM program. Right now, no courses in Insurance (including CPCU) are available in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Yet there are about 800 insurance producers located on Long Island that will need qualified candidates to fill vacancies in their organizations. LIIEF is trying to reach Long Island students early and thus encourage them to pursue a career in insurance.

The closest place for students to enroll in an insurance and risk management degree program is at St. John’s University in New York City. While St. John’s has a well-known and highly respected program, it is not readily available to Nassau and Suffolk residents, who would have to travel anywhere from 1 to 2.5 hours each way to commute to New York City.

It is also important to note that St. John’s tuition is $40,000, and room and board costs about $20,000. Attendance at Stony Brook University is now free for residents with incomes below $150,000. Room and board at Stony Brook is about $10,000. Many Long Island Stony Brook Students opt to commute, thus making their costs less than $1,000 a year for books and fees and about $11,600 for those that come from higher income households. Thus, the LIIEF program at the Stony Brook University School of Business will offer greater access to an RIM degree for students of all income levels.

Stony Brook University is well-respected, and the School of Business, which has been in existence for about 15 years, has already achieved recognition as an excellent program. Its graduates are recruited by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and other large financial institutions on a regular basis. We believe it will provide an excellent home for the new degree program.

  1. Will this program offer an opportunity for students in upstate NY?

While only 12.2% of Stony Brook Students come from upstate NY, upstate insurers are free to recruit all Stony Brook students. It’s quite likely that the availability of an RIM degree at the Stony Brook University School of Business will attract a higher percentage of upstate NY students because of the cost advantages over the St. John’s program.

  1. Is $1.5 million an appropriate goal? 

A member of the LIIEF Board of Directors has been exploring developing an RIM program at SUNY Buffalo and was advised that the cost of an Endowed Chair would be $3 million, and Mr. Connor Harrison of The Institutes advised that $3 million is the number most universities require to establish an Endowed Chair. Therefore, $1.5 million, an amount that was determined in partnership with Stony Brook University, looks like a good number.

  1. Does Stony Brook University see this as an area of growth for them? Is the University assisting with fundraising?

The Stony Brook Foundation will provide $250,000 towards the $1.5 million goal once we reach $1.25 million in the fund.  LIIEF is working very closely with Stony Brook University: Dr. Stanley, President, and Manuel London, Dean of the Business School, have pledged their full support and assistance in our fundraising efforts.

  1. Once the funds have been raised, will Stony Brook be able to get the new program approved?

We have no doubt that Stony Brook will get its RIM program approved for accreditation. There are no guarantees in life, but the staff at Stony Brook is very competent and they would not have commenced this activity without believing an accredited program would be approved.

  1. Should this effort not get off the ground or be successful in the first year or two, what happens to the dollars raised? Are they returned if the program never launches?

We are not certain what would happen to the funds, and we need to have more discussions with Stony Brook to clarify this issue. The response to date has been that the money would be spent on scholarships and/or the development of some insurance and risk management courses which will form a part of the business degree requirements. We would not have undertaken this effort if we did not believe we could reach the goal.