The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New Jersey is partnering this fall with Mercer County Community College to offer an Insurance and Financial Services AAS degree that it hopes will create more agents.

Jacki Frank

“There is a shortage of new talent in the insurance field, a scarcity of bright young men and women to lead our businesses through the next three or four decades,” said Jacki Frank, IIABNJ’s chairwoman, in a statement. “Boomers are retiring, Gen Xers are aging and it’s the Millennial Generation that we need to help us revitalize our industry and serve our customers.”

Frank said outreach to Millennials is critical. “We must show these young minds the vast opportunities that exist for them in insurance—careers for a wide variety of skill sets and personality types; careers that are interesting, lucrative and fun,” she said.

The Insurance and Financial Services option of the Management program designed for students, both full-time and part-time, who desire to specialize in the insurance field, as well as for currently employed insurance professionals seeking to increase knowledge and opportunities, according to a statement from the Trenton, N.J.-based association.

Part of the curriculum includes IIABNJ’s prelicensing property-casualty on-line insurance course, as well as three courses from the American Institute of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter. Admission to the program requires a high school diploma or its equivalent