Fall 2026

Theory of Interest

Theory of Interest covers time value of money, annuities, bonds, and interest rate risk management techniques.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Kirk Peter4.5/5

Summary

1 / 6

The course features challenging material and difficult exams, including a final exam worth 50% of the grade. Success requires significant preparation, including completing substantial homework and utilizing external resources like coaching subscriptions to master the content.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

MATH 213, 222, or declared in the Business Exchange program

ACTSCI 303 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Fall 2026

Kirk Peter

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.82/5 from 56 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 4.7/5 raw quality · 2.8/5 difficulty · 18 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Kirk Peter is praised as helpful, funny, and engaging, with reviewers noting his real-world experience and willingness to assist students. Some find his lectures interesting and clear, while others perceive him as intimidating.

Some students report negative experiences, citing condescending remarks and mocking behavior. Others find the textbook unhelpful, lectures too fast for note-taking, and the course content extremely difficult without external resources.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.34 GPA, 59.3% A/AB (n=54 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.27 GPA, 60.5% A/AB (n=76 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.33 GPA, 63.6% A/AB (n=66 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

KIRK PETER is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction34 / 450
LEC 002Classroom Instruction43 / 450

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Reviewers describe Kirk Peter as an engaging and helpful instructor who uses his actuarial experience to explain topics. Students report that his lectures are interesting and that he is dedicated to helping them succeed in the difficult course.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.34 GPA, 59.3% A/AB (n=54 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.27 GPA, 60.5% A/AB (n=76 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.33 GPA, 63.6% A/AB (n=66 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The course features challenging material and difficult exams, including a final exam worth 50% of the grade. Success requires significant preparation, including completing substantial homework and utilizing external resources like coaching subscriptions to master the content.

Some students find the provided textbook difficult to understand and note that lectures move too quickly for effective note-taking. Additionally, one reviewer reported experiencing condescending behavior and mockery from the professor, advising caution for those sensitive to such interactions.

Topics

  • Time value of money and interest compounding
  • Payment streams, loans, and sinking funds
  • Annuity and bond valuation
  • Interest rate term structure, duration, immunization, and swaps

Skills

  • Valuation of financial instruments and interest rate risk management
  • Calculating present and future values with various compounding methods

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.08 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
ACTSCI 303 · Fall 2026

Theory of Interest

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:242:011640",
    "course_id": "ACTSCI 303",
    "course_uid": "course_0dc2eef4cc55721b49c22e15",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "011640",
    "source_subject_id": "242",
    "title": "Theory of Interest",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "322ad458345f59ab71dd180a3e2de960f65490f7efabf8e6445de29b3a924bb9",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}