Colleges for a Forensic Investigator
Forensic investigations programs train and prepare students to achieve successful careers collecting and examining evidence from crime scenes and using their scientific knowledge to help law enforcement agencies solve crimes and apprehend criminals. If you want to study about and start a career in forensic investigations, there are multiple schools to choose from in the United States.
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East
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The Eberly College of Science at Pennsylvania State University offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in forensic science for potential forensic investigators. Students in the bachelor's degree program must successfully complete 124 credit hours to complete the program, and students can focus on either a biology track or a chemistry track. With a combination of class lectures and laboratory assignments, the biology track emphasizes topics such as molecular and cell biology, microbiology and biochemistry, while the chemistry track focuses on subjects such as chemical principles, organic chemistry and experimental chemistry. Other classes students must take to enhance their knowledge of the criminal justice system include principals of crime scene investigation, criminalistics, courtroom testimony, forensic molecular biology and forensic chemistry. Students can also continue their studies in the school's graduate research program which enables students to conduct research with experienced faculty members and professionals within the field.
Midwest
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Purdue University, in Indianapolis, Indiana, offers a bachelor's degree program in criminal justice. With a focus on sociology, society, social problems and human social behavior, the curriculum encompasses lectures as well as exercises that give students practical hands-on experience. Students in the program can concentrate their major in the political science or sociology areas of criminal justice. The required courses address significant topics such as law and society, criminology, social problems, juvenile delinquency and principles of sociology. Other classes students can take include organized crime, aggression and violence, history of crime in America, racial and ethnic relations, political analysis, philosophy and law, civil liberties and the constitution, drugs and behavior and judicial politics. Graduates of Purdue's criminal justice program are qualified to productively contribute to the criminal justice field working for law enforcement agencies, probation and parole agencies, safety and security organizations, correctional institutions or for planning agencies involved with criminal justice research, evaluation and planning.
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South
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The University of Central Florida provides a bachelor's degree program in forensic science. The program equips students with the required knowledge and necessary skills to thrive in the field of professional criminalistics and as forensic scientists examining physical evidence gathered at crime scenes --- such as hairs, blood, fibers or pharmaceutical and clandestine drug preparations --- to assist law enforcement agencies in solving crimes. The curriculum incorporates informative lessons and valuable laboratory assignments into the program, and students may choose between two different tracks. Courses for the analysis track address topics such as analytical chemistry, calculus with analytic geometry, genetics and immunology. Students concentrating on the biochemistry track must take classes covering biology, organic chemistry, microbiology and forensics biochemistry.
West
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Seattle University offers a bachelor's degree program in criminal justice with a concentration in forensic science. Students can choose between a forensic psychology specialization or a forensic science specialization. To graduate, students must obtain a minimum of 180 quarter credits for the forensic psychology specialty or at least 192 credits for the forensic science specialty. Furthermore, students must attain a cumulative and a major grade point average of 2.0 or better. The program encompasses both labs and lectures, and students concentrating on forensic science must successfully complete courses such as criminal justice statistics, criminal justice research methods, criminology, criminal investigation, criminal law, forensic science, molecular and cellular biology, anatomy and physiology, general chemistry, fundamental organic chemistry and quantitative analysis.
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