The ARM program requires three core courses to be completed: risk assessment, risk control and risk financing. Courses are offered almost exclusively online, allowing students to work at their own pace to complete the program in preparation for their required exams. The Insurance Educational Association (IEA) has been training students in insurance and risk management since 1876, and was the first to create an ARM education program. IEA offers classroom and online programs, from one-day workshops to semester-long courses in fields such as workers' compensation, disability management and risk management. IEA provides training in the three ARM core courses: risk assessment, risk control and risk financing. The IEA program lasts 14 weeks, and courses are offered in the spring, summer and fall semesters. Graduating students will be qualified to pass the IIA exams.
The ARM-P program includes all the courses for an ARM designation, but adds a course in risk management for public entities. The Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA) in Alexandria, Virginia, has provided resources and education for public sector risk managers for more than 30 years. PRIMA offers an online tutorial program for an ARM-P that trains students in subjects such as public sector risk management administration, risk control, exposure identification and analysis, risk financing and claims and litigation. The program allows students to study at their own pace and is available for a year after purchase.
The ARM-E program includes the normal ARM designation courses, but adds a course in the development and implementation of enterprisewide risk management. This course trains students to use use an integrated approach to analyzing and evaluating risks in an organization. The Risk Management Society (RIMS), based in New York, offers an online ARM-E designation that includes training in preparing organizations to meet rating agency requirements, empowering organizations to align enterprisewide risk management with strategic goals and communicating with stockholders by sharing internationally recognized enterprisewide risk management guidelines.
The ARM risk assessment course includes training in risk management programs, legal foundations of liability loss exposures, assessing property, forecasting and cash flow analysis. The ARM risk control training covers such subjects as controlling property, intellectual property loss exposures, claim administration and motivating and monitoring risk control activities. The ARM risk financing course includes training in reinsurance and self-insurance, forecasting accidental losses, accounting and income tax aspects and allocating risk management costs.