The Modeling the Future Challenge, a program of the Actuarial Foundation, is a real-world competition for high school students combining math-modeling, data-analysis, and risk-management into one exciting competition. To compete, students conduct their own research project modeling real-world data to analyze risks and make recommendations to companies, industry groups, governments, or organizations. This challenge tasks students to use critical thinking, mathematical reasoning, and analytical skills to help guide future decisions based on their own risk analysis.
Students in their junior or senior year of high school from anywhere in the United States and its territories may apply. Students can be from formal, informal, or homeschool groups. Teams of one to five high school students conduct an actuarial research project in which they make recommendations to companies, organizations, government agencies, or other groups based on their own mathematical models, real-world data analysis, and risk management. Teams passing Phase One are connected with actuarial mentors to help refine their project proposals. The top research teams from Phase Two are then brought to the national MTFC Symposium to present their work for a shot at being one of four teams who share a scholarship award of $60,000.