10 Best Bachelor’s in Crime Scene Investigation

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Ohio State Uni­ver­si­ty is our #1 CSI degree pro­gram. George Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty comes in at #2.
• Demand for foren­sic inves­ti­ga­tions pro­fes­sion­als is ris­ing, with a pro­ject­ed 14% job increase in the next decade.
• Foren­sic sci­ence edu­ca­tion empha­sizes hard sci­ence and prac­ti­cal skills to meet indus­try demands and tech­no­log­i­cal advancements.

A bachelor’s degree in crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion opens the door to a reward­ing and in-demand pro­fes­sion. There are many jobs with­in the CSI career field, from work­ing as a CSI tech­ni­cian to being the direc­tor of the crim­i­nal inves­ti­ga­tion department. 

This arti­cle was orig­i­nal­ly pub­lished in June 2022 and last updat­ed in Jan­u­ary 2024.

If you have an eye for pho­tog­ra­phy, you may be inter­est­ed in a career as a CSI pho­tog­ra­ph­er, tak­ing pho­tos of crime scenes and evi­dence. If you like hands-on work, one of the careers in CSI that may be a good fit for you is an evi­dence col­lec­tor, where you’ll work direct­ly with find­ing and cat­a­loging evidence.

CSI careers are myr­i­ad, and you’ll like­ly be able to find a career with­in the field that’s a good fit for your inter­ests and career goals. Most peo­ple who work in a career as a crime scene inves­ti­ga­tor enjoy their job. 

Sat­is­fac­tion with­in the crime scene inves­ti­ga­tor career field is high, but the stress­es of the job can take a toll over time. Work­ing with vic­tims and fam­i­lies can be reward­ing, but it can be hard to deal with the stres­sors of crime day in and day out.

Relat­ed Rank­ings and Valu­able Information:

• 15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Crime Scene Investigation
• 10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Crime Scene Investigation
• 10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Crime Scene Investigation
• What Can I Do With a CSI Degree?

How We Ranked the Best Crime Scene Investigations Degree Programs

To rank the best schools for crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter edi­tors focused on accred­it­ed, rep­utable col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties offer­ing CSI and foren­sic bachelor’s degrees. For stu­dents seek­ing out the top CSI schools, edi­tors ranked the best col­leges for CSI edu­ca­tion based on their cost, grad­u­ate salary, and stu­dent reviews, with data from IPEDS and Niche.

1. Ohio State University

Ohio State Uni­ver­si­ty has a Crim­i­nol­o­gy and Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Stud­ies, BA. A crime scene inves­ti­ga­tions degree is based on crim­i­nol­o­gy, a soci­ol­o­gy-relat­ed study of the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem. The study of crim­i­nol­o­gy teach­es learn­ers dif­fer­ent per­spec­tives of crime and explains the preva­lence of dif­fer­ent kinds of crime. 

This includes agen­cies set up to con­trol and pre­vent delin­quen­cy. These pro­grams include the courts, police, and pro­ba­tion, as well as cor­rec­tion­al insti­tu­tions. Top­ics include women and crime, youth and crime, and how con­trol agen­cies fit into the larg­er society.

Accep­tance Rate: 53%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 86%
Under­grad­u­ate Pop­u­la­tion: 46,123
Degree: Crim­i­nol­o­gy and Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Stud­ies, BA
High­light: 100% of appli­cants are accept­ed, giv­ing stu­dents an excel­lent oppor­tu­ni­ty to pur­sue high­er edu­ca­tion, includ­ing crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion degrees.

2. George Washington University

Foren­sic chemists can begin their edu­ca­tions with a crime scene inves­ti­ga­tions degree from George Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty. Designed for those with an under­grad­u­ate degree in chem­istry, GWU’s dual Foren­sic Chem­istry, BS to MFS pre­pares stu­dents for an accel­er­at­ed track. George Wash­ing­ton is ranked as the sec­ond-best uni­ver­si­ty in D.C.

Class mate­ri­als incor­po­rate the exam­i­na­tion of tex­tile fibers and arson accel­er­ates. Stu­dents study the impact of drug abuse, infrared spec­trom­e­try, chain of evi­dence and court testimony.

Pop­u­lar relat­ed majors include: 

• Inves­ti­ga­tion
• Crim­i­nal Justice
• Polic­ing
• Pri­vate Security
• Cor­rec­tions
• Cyber Crime
• Juve­nile Justice

Accep­tance Rate: 50%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 82%
Under­grad­u­ate Pop­u­la­tion: 11,482
Degree: Foren­sic Chem­istry, BS to MFS
High­light: GWU has an extreme­ly high grad­u­a­tion rate among crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion degrees and oth­er stud­ies due to its com­pet­i­tive accep­tance rate and excel­lent pro­fes­sors, who received an A grade from stu­dents based on reviews and oth­er factors.

3. University of Alabama

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Alaba­ma’s Crim­i­nol­o­gy & Crim­i­nal Jus­tice, BA is tai­lored toward stu­dents inter­est­ed in: 

• Com­put­er Fraud Investigation
• Crim­i­nal Investigation
• Crime Scene Analysis
• Stud­ies in Deviance
• Law and Social Control
• Ter­ror­ism

This crime scene inves­ti­ga­tions degree is geared toward stu­dents seek­ing an in-depth study of crime and devi­ous stud­ies as well as broad-based aca­d­e­m­ic courses.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Alaba­ma pro­vides a sol­id stu­dent expe­ri­ence, with 84% of stu­dents rat­ing pro­fes­sor pre­pared­ness positively.

Accep­tance Rate: 59%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 72%
Under­grad­u­ate Pop­u­la­tion: 32,458
Degree: Crim­i­nol­o­gy & Crim­i­nal Jus­tice, BA
High­light: Social ath­letes seek­ing crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion degrees may appre­ci­ate that school’s rank­ings as the #2 school for ath­let­ics and the #2 school for Greek life.

4. Towson University

Among the best crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion degrees, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Tow­son’s Foren­sic Chem­istry, BS gives stu­dents the knowl­edge need­ed to enter careers as sci­en­tists in indus­try, busi­ness and gov­ern­ment sec­tors. Some stu­dents go on to pur­sue advanced degrees. 

The Foren­sic Chem­istry pro­gram incorporates: 

• Biol­o­gy
• Social Sci­ence
• Math­e­mat­ics
• Chem­istry

Foren­sic sci­ence course­work helps to pre­pare stu­dents to inves­ti­gate crimes. Focused on the devel­op­ment of lab­o­ra­to­ry skills, this degree pre­pares learn­ers for a life of crime-bust­ing science.

Accep­tance Rate: 88%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 72%
Under­grad­u­ate Pop­u­la­tion: 16,861
Degree: Foren­sic Chem­istry, BS
High­light: Tow­son ranks #5 among best-val­ue col­leges in Mary­land, ensur­ing that stu­dents receiv­ing degrees in crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion and oth­er fields get a qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion at an afford­able price.

5. East Carolina University

East Car­oli­na Uni­ver­si­ty’s Crim­i­nal Jus­tice, BS is a com­pet­i­tive crime scene inves­ti­ga­tions degree. Stu­dents major­ing in crim­i­nal jus­tice can choose a minor worth at least 29 cred­its or take gen­er­al electives. 

Stu­dents com­plete 120 cred­it hours in the school’s degrees in crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion. Gen­er­al edu­ca­tion cours­es include stud­ies in the nation­al gov­ern­ment, psy­chol­o­gy, and soci­ol­o­gy, while core cours­es include an intro­duc­tion to: 

• Crim­i­nal Justice
• Crime and Criminology
• Cor­rec­tion­al Systems
• Police and Society
• Juve­nile Jus­tice System
• Crim­i­nal Law

East Car­oli­na is an above-aver­age pub­lic school in Greenville, North Car­oli­na that also offers minors in Foren­sic Sci­ence, Crim­i­nal Law and Legal Process, Crim­i­nol­o­gy, Foren­sic Sci­ence Crime Lab­o­ra­to­ry Career Path­way and Inter­na­tion­al Study.

Accep­tance Rate: 94%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 66%
Under­grad­u­ate Pop­u­la­tion: 21,688
Degree: Crim­i­nal Jus­tice, BS
High­light: East Car­oli­na is the #8 ranked uni­ver­si­ty in North Car­oli­na and the Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Depart­ment holds a career fair every March for Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Month.

6. Penn State University

Penn State Uni­ver­si­ty’s Foren­sic Sci­ence, BS teach­es stu­dents sci­en­tif­ic prin­ci­ples relat­ed to crim­i­nal and civ­il lit­i­ga­tion and jus­tice. This crime scene inves­ti­ga­tions degree com­bines cours­es across aca­d­e­m­ic units to give stu­dents a strong foun­da­tion in the math­e­mat­i­cal, bio­log­i­cal and phys­i­cal sciences. 

Learn­ers become famil­iar with top­ics in: 

• Foren­sic Chemistry
• Foren­sic Biology
• Crim­i­nal­is­tics
• Crime Scene Investigation

Grad­u­ates go on to entry-lev­el posi­tions in foren­sic sci­ence, the col­lec­tion of sci­en­tif­ic evi­dence, and the pre­sen­ta­tion of evi­dence in court.

Penn State’s main cam­pus is in State Col­lege, Penn­syl­va­nia. Stu­dents com­plete their under­grad­u­ate edu­ca­tion to join the Penn State nation, with instant con­nec­tions to Nit­tany Lions all over the world.

Accep­tance Rate: 55%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 96%
Under­grad­u­ate Pop­u­la­tion: 46,000
Degree: Foren­sic Sci­ence, BS
High­light: Penn State Uni­ver­si­ty is the top-ranked pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty in Penn­syl­va­nia, giv­ing those who receive crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion degrees an advan­tage over grads of low­er-rank­ing institutions.

7. Cedarville University

Cedarville Uni­ver­si­ty’s Foren­sic Sci­ence, BS allows stu­dents to learn the skills to become foren­sic sci­en­tists. The school’s degrees in crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion teach learn­ers every­thing from the chem­i­cal com­po­si­tion of sub­stances to high-tech instru­ments that ana­lyze DNA. 

Stu­dents study in an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary pro­gram includ­ing lab work and intern­ships at crime labs. The pro­gram empha­sizes advanced sci­ence cours­es and the con­nec­tion between sci­ence and the Chris­t­ian faith.

The school also offers these relat­ed programs:

• Foren­sic Science
• Pre-Law
• Social Work

Cedarville is a pri­vate, Chris­t­ian school in Cedarville, Ohio. More than sev­en out of 10 stu­dents com­plete their degrees, which is rel­a­tive­ly high com­pared to oth­er major universities.

Accep­tance Rate: 62%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 75%
Under­grad­u­ate Pop­u­la­tion: 4,533
Degree: Foren­sic Sci­ence, BS
High­light: Cedarville Uni­ver­si­ty is #31 among top Chris­t­ian col­leges, pro­vid­ing stu­dents of faith a chance to attend a con­ser­v­a­tive col­lege when pur­su­ing a crime scene inves­ti­ga­tions degree.

8. Madonna University

Madon­na Uni­ver­si­ty has a Foren­sic Sci­ence, BS that ranks among just 35 insti­tu­tions to receive the pres­ti­gious accred­i­ta­tion from the Foren­sic Sci­ence Edu­ca­tion Pro­grams Accred­i­ta­tion Com­mis­sion (FEPAC). In fact, it’s a top crime scene inves­ti­ga­tions degree boast­ing the only FEPAC-accred­it­ed under­grad­u­ate pro­gram in the state. 

Stu­dents receive hands-on edu­ca­tion that famil­iar­izes them with pro­to­cols cur­rent­ly employed in the field. Instruc­tors are high­ly expe­ri­enced pro­fes­sion­als and learn­ers can par­tic­i­pate in inde­pen­dent research that may lead to pub­li­ca­tion opportunities.

Con­sid­ered an above-aver­age pri­vate school, Madon­na is a Catholic uni­ver­si­ty locat­ed in Michi­gan’s Detroit area.

Accep­tance Rate: 65%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 69%
Under­grad­u­ate Pop­u­la­tion: 1,780
Degree: Foren­sic Sci­ence, BS
High­light: Approx­i­mate­ly 91% of stu­dents, includ­ing those seek­ing crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion degrees, give pro­fes­sors high marks for pre­pared­ness, leav­ing prospec­tive students.

9. Virginia Commonwealth University

Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth Uni­ver­si­ty has a Crim­i­nal Jus­tice: Foren­sic Crime Scene Inves­ti­ga­tion, BS for stu­dents seek­ing a crime scene inves­ti­ga­tions degree. In this pro­gram, learn­ers pre­pare to become effec­tive pro­fes­sion­als in foren­sic crime and crim­i­nal justice. 

Some stu­dents use the knowl­edge obtained in their crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion degrees to qual­i­fy for law school and oth­er careers in the legal sys­tem. Entry-lev­el career options for suc­cess­ful grads include: 

• State, local and fed­er­al jus­tice agencies
• Law Enforce­ment
• Juve­nile Justice
• Crime Scene Investigation

Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth is a pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty locat­ed in Rich­mond, Vir­ginia and VCU ranks high­ly for diver­si­ty and val­ue for mon­ey among sur­veyed students.

Accep­tance Rate: 93%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 67%
Under­grad­u­ate Pop­u­la­tion: 20,958
Degree: Crim­i­nal Jus­tice: Foren­sic Crime Scene Inves­ti­ga­tion, BS
High­light: Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth ranks among the top 100 schools (out of 585 ranked) for crim­i­nal jus­tice nation­al­ly, which is good news for stu­dents seek­ing degrees in crime scene investigation.

10. University of Central Oklahoma

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cen­tral Okla­homa has a Foren­sic Sci­ence, BS that’s among the nation’s best crime scene inves­ti­ga­tions degree. This is a dual pro­gram in chem­istry and foren­sic sci­ence that FEPAC has accred­it­ed. Foren­sic Sci­ence stud­ies include: 

• Chem­istry
• Microscopy
• Tox­i­col­o­gy

The School of Crim­i­nal Jus­tice cur­rent­ly offers three under­grad­u­ate degree programs: 

• Gen­er­al
• Police
• Cor­rec­tions

Stu­dents should plan on a com­pre­hen­sive edu­ca­tion in chem­istry and some go on to pur­sue grad­u­ate degrees. They also offer two grad­u­ate degrees, Mas­ter of Arts in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Man­age­ment and Admin­is­tra­tion and Crime and Intel­li­gence Analysis.

Accep­tance Rate: 81%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 38%
Under­grad­u­ate Pop­u­la­tion: 17,239
Degree: Foren­sic Sci­ence, BS
High­light: Approx­i­mate­ly 81% of stu­dents agree that pro­fes­sors put a lot of effort into teach­ing their class­es and 84% of stu­dents believe they can find a job with crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion degrees or oth­er degrees offered by the school.

Frequently Asked Questions