• Find a bachelor's degree




    Bachelors Degree Center is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

Work­ing pro­fes­sion­als who came into crim­i­nal jus­tice and foren­sics at the entry-lev­el — usu­al­ly with a high school diplo­ma, cer­tifi­cate, or associate’s degree — have made their way into a reward­ing, in-demand, and grow­ing occu­pa­tion. They’re also at a dis­ad­van­tage, because to progress into lead­er­ship posi­tions or roles with greater tech­ni­cal exper­tise, they will need a bachelor’s degree. A foren­sic sci­ence bachelor’s is the next step for­ward, and an online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree makes it con­ve­nient for work­ing adults to fin­ish their bachelor’s beyond the diplo­ma or associate’s.

But if you want pro­mo­tion and advance­ment as soon as pos­si­ble, not all pro­grams can do the job. Accel­er­at­ed bachelor’s degree com­ple­tion pro­grams solve that prob­lem. The fastest online degree com­ple­tion pro­grams use a vari­ety of meth­ods to help stu­dents fin­ish quick­ly, from allow­ing stu­dents to trans­fer as much as 75% of required cred­its, to fast-track sched­ules with short class­es and many start dates through the year. For stu­dents who need an accel­er­at­ed online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter has run the numbers.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Accelerated Online Forensic Science Bachelor Degree Programs

To rank the 10 Fastest Online Foren­sic Sci­ence Degree Bachelor’s Pro­grams for 2019, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter focused on accred­it­ed, online bachelor’s com­ple­tion pro­grams that made it easy for stu­dents to fin­ish their degree quick­ly. Accel­er­at­ed cours­es, gen­er­ous trans­fer poli­cies, and oth­er fac­tors that help increase speed, with­out sac­ri­fic­ing qual­i­ty, were the standards.

From there, pro­grams are ranked accord­ing to Cost, Rep­u­ta­tion, Alum­ni Salary, Grad­u­a­tion Rate, and Job Place­ment — data gath­ered from Col­lege Score­card, IPEDS, and Niche. The aver­age of these scores puts the best com­bi­na­tion, with the fastest pro­grams, at the top.

1. West Virginia State University

West Vir­ginia State University’s BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice pro­vides a Cer­tifi­cate in Inves­ti­ga­tion. WVSU’s online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree pro­gram requires no on-cam­pus degree-relat­ed work. Stu­dents grad­u­ate with exten­sive train­ing in the country’s crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem and its work­ing rela­tion­ship with the social aspects of life. Appli­cants have the option to trans­fer up to 72 cred­its towards the degree require­ments of 120-cred­it hours, which reduces the time required to earn the degree. Course­work includes Fin­ger­print­ing, Inter­ro­ga­tions, Crim­i­nal Inves­ti­ga­tion, and Crime Sci­ence Investigations.

West Vir­ginia State Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1891 and is one of the first groups of land grant col­leges that were char­tered by the Mor­rill Act. West Vir­ginia State Uni­ver­si­ty is a his­tor­i­cal­ly black uni­ver­si­ty (HBCU) and a mem­ber school of the Thur­good Mar­shall Col­lege Fund. Its sub­ur­ban cam­pus sits upon land that was once Native Amer­i­can land. WVSU is rec­og­nized as a Tree Cam­pus, USA school for its ded­i­cat­ed for­est man­age­ment initiatives.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice with a Cer­tifi­cate in Investigation

Click here to learn more about the accel­er­at­ed foren­sic sci­ence degree!

2. Champlain College

Cham­plain College’s BS in Com­put­er Foren­sics and Dig­i­tal Inves­ti­ga­tions can be com­plet­ed exclu­sive­ly online. Cham­plain College’s online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree is a nation­al­ly rec­og­nized pro­gram, which offers degree can­di­dates the oppor­tu­ni­ty to study in the well-known Leahy Cen­ter for Dig­i­tal Inves­ti­ga­tion. Grad­u­ates enter the work­force with the skills required to ana­lyze dig­i­tal secu­ri­ty breach­es and to recov­er lost data. The foren­sic degree is offered in sev­en-week class for­mats to allow for an accel­er­at­ed pace to com­ple­tion. Addi­tion­al­ly, Cham­plain Col­lege allows the appli­cant to trans­fer up to 90-cred­it hours.

Cham­plain Col­lege was estab­lished in 1878. The school offers both on-cam­pus and online degree options. Its res­i­den­tial cam­pus in Burling­ton, Ver­mont is home to 2,200 full-time under­grad­u­ate stu­dents. Cham­plain Col­lege oper­ates two inter­na­tion­al branch cam­pus­es in Mon­tre­al and Dublin. US News & World rec­og­nizes Cham­plain Col­lege as the most inno­v­a­tive school in the north­ern por­tion of the Unit­ed States.

Degree: BS in Com­put­er Foren­sics and Dig­i­tal Investigations

Click here to learn more about the accel­er­at­ed foren­sic sci­ence degree!

3. Pace University

Pace University’s BS in Pro­fes­sion­al Stud­ies Com­put­er Foren­sics spe­cial­iza­tion is offered by the Sei­den­berg School of Com­put­er Sci­ence and Infor­ma­tion Sys­tems. Stu­dents of the online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree learn from renowned fac­ul­ty that includes expert wit­ness­es, inves­ti­ga­tors, and experts in the field of telecom­mu­ni­ca­tion. The Sei­den­berg School holds the dis­tinc­tion of aca­d­e­m­ic excel­lence as a Cyber Defense Edu­ca­tion insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing. Degree appli­cants can accel­er­ate the time required to earn a degree by tak­ing advan­tage of their gen­er­ous trans­fer-cred­it policies.

Pace Uni­ver­si­ty in New York City, NY was estab­lished in 1906. The school oper­ates 3 cam­pus­es — one in Man­hat­tan and two in Westch­ester Coun­ty in the town Pleas­antville and the city of White Plains. It is a pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that began as a coed­u­ca­tion­al busi­ness school by two broth­ers. US News & World Report ranks Pace Uni­ver­si­ty among the top 200 nation­al universities.

Degree: BS in Pro­fes­sion­al Tech­nol­o­gy Stud­ies — Com­put­er Forensics

Click here to learn more about the accel­er­at­ed foren­sic sci­ence degree!

4. Columbia Southern University

Colum­bia South­ern University’s BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Admin­is­tra­tion offers an advanced focus in the spe­cial­ty of Arson Inves­ti­ga­tions. Colum­bia Southern’s pro­gram requires the com­ple­tion of 120-cred­it hours, of which 90 cred­its may be trans­ferred from pre­vi­ous high­er learn­ing class­es. This online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree pro­gram pre­pares grad­u­ates to be ratio­nal think­ing foren­sic pro­fes­sion­als with a spe­cial­ty of a fire event. Course­work includes fire analy­sis, inves­ti­ga­tion, and com­bus­tion, among many oth­er top­ics. The online degree pro­gram pro­vides stu­dents with some of the most flex­i­ble dis­tance learn­ing possibilities.

Colum­bia South­ern Uni­ver­si­ty locat­ed in Orange Beach, Alaba­ma, is a fam­i­ly-owned pri­vate uni­ver­si­ty that spe­cial­izes in dis­tance learn­ing edu­ca­tion­al options. The school was estab­lished in 1993 and is home to more than 21,000 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate stu­dents. Colum­bia South­ern receives its online accred­i­ta­tion from the Dis­tance Edu­ca­tion Accred­i­ta­tion Com­mis­sion (DEAC) and offers some of the most afford­able tuition rates in the country.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Admin­is­tra­tion — Arson Investigation

Click here to learn more about the accel­er­at­ed foren­sic sci­ence degree!

5. Southern New Hampshire University

The South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty BA in Psy­chol­o­gy-Foren­sic Psy­chol­o­gy spe­cial­iza­tion can be com­plet­ed entire­ly online. Course­work includes the areas of Crim­i­nal Pro­fil­ing, Crim­i­nal Offend­er Treat­ment, Abnor­mal Psy­chol­o­gy, among oth­ers. SNHU’s online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree pro­gram requires the com­ple­tion of 120-cred­it hours; how­ev­er, its gen­er­ous trans­fer cred­it pol­i­cy (up to 90-cred­it hours) eas­i­ly reduces the time required to com­plete this bac­calau­re­ate degree. South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty offers online degree pro­grams with some of the most afford­able tuition rates in the country.

South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1932, and with their inno­v­a­tive online dis­tance-learn­ing plat­form, SNHU is now one of the fastest grow­ing insti­tu­tions of high­er learn­ing in the coun­try. Between 2001 and 2015, the online stu­dent body swelled from 8,000 stu­dents to near­ly 35,000 stu­dents. The uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates with six colleges/schools. The New Eng­land com­mis­sion of High­er Edu­ca­tion accred­its SNHU.

Degree: BA in Foren­sic Psychology

Click here to learn more about the accel­er­at­ed foren­sic sci­ence degree!

6. American Public University

Amer­i­can Pub­lic University’s accel­er­at­ed BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice degree pro­gram pro­vides an advanced focus in Dig­i­tal Foren­sics. This online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree includes class­es that cov­er Evi­den­tiary Sci­en­tif­ic Eval­u­a­tion, Crim­i­nal Behav­ior, and Dig­i­tal Foren­sics as it relates to the law. This four-year pro­gram requires the com­ple­tion of 120-cred­it hours; how­ev­er, APUS pro­vides a gen­er­ous trans­fer-cred­it pro­to­col that eas­i­ly reduces how long it takes to com­plete the degree. The school pro­vides a vari­ety of schol­ar­ships, finan­cial aid and reduced rates for those who qual­i­fy for a mil­i­tary grant.

Amer­i­can Pub­lic Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1991 and oper­ates as a for-prof­it, pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing that spe­cial­izes in online learn­ing options. The uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem includes the Amer­i­can Pub­lic Uni­ver­si­ty and the Amer­i­can Mil­i­tary Uni­ver­si­ty. The school’s stu­dent body nears 49,000. The Accred­it­ing Com­mis­sion of the Dis­tance Edu­ca­tion and Train­ing Coun­cil accred­its APUS’ degree programs.

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice — Dig­i­tal Forensics

Click here to learn more about the accel­er­at­ed foren­sic sci­ence degree!

7. Saint Leo University

Saint Leo University’s BA in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Crim­i­nal­is­tics con­cen­tra­tion pre­pares stu­dents to ana­lyze DNA, Bul­lets, and Fin­ger­prints — and any oth­er crime sci­ence evi­dence — that leads to the iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of poten­tial sus­pects and the rebuild­ing of a crime event. Grad­u­ates find gain­ful employ­ment in the areas of law enforce­ment, Secret Ser­vice, and the Fed­er­al Bureau of Inves­ti­ga­tion. To speed up the process, stu­dents can advan­tage of Saint Leo University’s lib­er­al trans­fer-cred­it pol­i­cy that allows for a max­i­mum of 90 credits.

Saint Leo Uni­ver­si­ty was orig­i­nal­ly estab­lished in 1889. Its rur­al cam­pus is sit­u­at­ed about 30 miles of the city of Tam­pa. Saint Leo Uni­ver­si­ty holds the dis­tinc­tion as being the first Roman Catholic school in the state of Flori­da and as one of the five largest catholic affil­i­at­ed uni­ver­si­ties in the sun­shine state. Saint Leo Uni­ver­si­ty was one of the first uni­ver­si­ties to offer dis­tance edu­ca­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties; this began dur­ing the Viet­nam War.

Degree: BA in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice — Criminalistics

Click here to learn more about the accel­er­at­ed foren­sic sci­ence degree!

8. Columbia College (SC)

Colum­bia College’s BA in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Foren­sic Track requires the com­ple­tion of course­work that includes Foren­sic DNA, Fin­ger­print Tech­nol­o­gy, and Foren­sic Tox­i­col­o­gy Tech­niques. Stu­dents study from the Fed­er­al Bureau of Investigation’s Tech­ni­cal Man­u­al through CC’s part­ner­ship with the South Car­oli­na Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Acad­e­my. Grad­u­ates are pre­pared to suc­ceed work­ing as a Coro­ner, a Detec­tive, as an ana­lyst in the FBI or CIA, a Cus­toms Agent, and Foren­sic Inves­ti­ga­tor, among many others.

Colum­bia Col­lege is a pri­vate all wom­en’s col­lege that was estab­lished in 1854. It holds the dis­tinc­tion as one of the country’s old­est women’s col­leges. The US News and World Report mag­a­zine rec­og­nizes Colum­bia Col­lege in South Car­oli­na as a top lib­er­al arts col­lege in the South­ern Unit­ed States.

Degree: BA in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice — Foren­sic Track

Click here to learn more about the accel­er­at­ed foren­sic sci­ence degree!

9. University of Maryland University College

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mary­land Uni­ver­si­ty College’s accel­er­at­ed online BS in Inves­tiga­tive Foren­sics allows for up to 90-cred­it hours to be trans­ferred towards the program’s require­ments. Course­work for the online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree spe­cial­ty includes Fin­ger­print Analy­sis, Firearms, Crim­i­nal Pro­ce­dure, Evi­den­tiary The­o­ry, and Inves­tiga­tive Foren­sics. The school rec­om­mends stu­dents come to the pro­gram with some expe­ri­ence with com­put­ers, lab work, and protocols.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mary­land Uni­ver­si­ty Col­lege was estab­lished in 1947. The school oper­ates in Adel­phi, Largo, and the greater Bal­ti­more-Wash­ing­ton, DC area as well as sev­er­al satel­lite cam­pus­es inter­na­tion­al­ly. UMUC is a mem­ber school of the Uni­ver­si­ty Sys­tem of Mary­land. The school offers cours­es to more than 125 mil­i­tary instal­la­tions in Europe, Asia, and the Mid­dle East.

Degree: BS in Inves­tiga­tive Forensics

Click here to learn more about the accel­er­at­ed foren­sic sci­ence degree!

10. Liberty University

Lib­er­ty University’s online BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice Crime Scene Inves­ti­ga­tion con­cen­tra­tion comes from the Helms School of Gov­ern­ment. This 120-cred­it hour online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree pro­gram allows for 90-cred­it hours to reduce degree com­ple­tion time. LU pro­vides lib­er­al dis­counts for Mil­i­tary members/spouses, as well as work­ing First Respon­ders & Law Enforce­ment Pro­fes­sion­als. Class­es are com­plet­ed entire­ly online in eight-week formats.

Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty is a Chris­t­ian evan­gel­i­cal uni­ver­si­ty that was estab­lished in 1971 in Lynch­burg, Vir­ginia. Lib­er­ty holds the dis­tinc­tion as one of the largest Chris­t­ian insti­tu­tions of high­er learn­ing. Addi­tion­al­ly, LU’s stu­dent enroll­ment of 110,000 makes it the world’s largest non-prof­it school in the coun­try. US News & World Report ranks Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty 8th best in the coun­try for its grad­u­ate crim­i­nal jus­tice degree pro­grams. Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty receives accred­i­ta­tion from the South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools Com­mis­sion on Col­leges (SACSCOC).

Degree: BS in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice — Crime Scene Investigation

Click here to learn more about the accel­er­at­ed foren­sic sci­ence degree!

How Quickly Can I Get an Online Forensic Science Bachelor Degree?

As the name sug­gests, accel­er­at­ed edu­ca­tion is a fast-paced way of learn­ing. Some peo­ple want to receive an accel­er­at­ed degree in order to save time and mon­ey. Accel­er­at­ed cours­es are usu­al­ly con­duct­ed online, mak­ing it more con­ve­nient for the stu­dent in terms of sched­ul­ing and com­mut­ing. On-cam­pus bach­e­lor’s degree pro­grams can take four years or more, but an accel­er­at­ed online degree can take as lit­tle as a year. How­ev­er, accel­er­at­ed pro­grams typ­i­cal­ly have the same amount of cours­es as a four-year pro­gram, so accel­er­at­ed stu­dents will need to be pre­pared for that.

How quick­ly you can get an online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree will depend on the pro­gram you sign up for. For some pro­grams, it is as short as 12 months with enough trans­fer cred­its. An online foren­sic sci­ence bach­e­lor degree can lead to oth­er oppor­tu­ni­ties, like a dig­i­tal foren­sics degree.

Will an Accelerated Forensic Science Program Prepare Me for a Job?

As long as the foren­sic sci­ence pro­gram has FEPAC accred­i­ta­tion, yes. FEPAC (Foren­sic Sci­ence Edu­ca­tion Pro­gram Accred­i­ta­tion Com­mis­sion) is an orga­ni­za­tion that cre­ates high stan­dards for foren­sic sci­ence edu­ca­tion­al pro­grams. Foren­sic sci­ence needs excel­lent, high­ly-trained work­ers with enough knowl­edge and exper­tise to car­ry out the job. Oth­er­wise, we risk jeop­ar­diz­ing the field with junk sci­ence. FEPAC ensure that stu­dents all over the coun­try receive the qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion and train­ing need­ed to pre­pare for the job market.

Like many oth­er forms of sci­ence, foren­sic sci­ence has spe­cial areas of inter­est that career seek­ers can work in. Foren­sic psy­chol­o­gy, foren­sic biol­o­gy, foren­sic chem­istry, tox­i­col­o­gy, crime scene inves­ti­ga­tion, dig­i­tal foren­sics, and com­put­er foren­sics are some com­mon areas of con­cen­tra­tion. You can learn more about these spe­cial­ties by tak­ing a course. Know­ing more about these sub­jects will help you to decide where to study in terms of interest.

What’s the Difference Between Digital Forensics and Computer Forensics?

While these terms are some­times used inter­change­ably, they are not the same thing. Com­put­er foren­sics is a sub­set under the broad­er area of dig­i­tal foren­sics. The dig­i­tal foren­sics def­i­n­i­tion encom­pass­es the inves­ti­ga­tion of a num­ber of dig­i­tal devices, from smart­phones to flash dri­ves. Com­put­er foren­sics specif­i­cal­ly inves­ti­gates com­put­ers. The job of a dig­i­tal foren­sic sci­en­tist is to probe a dig­i­tal device for any crim­i­nal activ­i­ty, such as the stor­age of incrim­i­nat­ing pho­tos or ille­gal pornog­ra­phy. In recent years, dig­i­tal and com­put­er foren­sics have become more nec­es­sary due to the increased pop­u­lar­i­ty of dig­i­tal devices.

Should I Add a Digital Forensics Certification to My Bachelor’s Degree?

If you would like to increase your career oppor­tu­ni­ties and job mar­ketabil­i­ty, yes. Those who are edu­cat­ed in spe­cial­ized areas of foren­sic sci­ence tend to earn more than those who are not. For exam­ple, you are more like­ly to get hired if you have dig­i­tal foren­sics cer­ti­fi­ca­tion on top of a bach­e­lor’s degree in foren­sic science.

Relat­ed Rankings:

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Foren­sic Sci­ence Degree Pro­grams
15 Best Online Foren­sic Sci­ence Degree Bachelor’s Pro­grams
10 Most Afford­able Online Foren­sic Sci­ence Degree Bach­e­lor Programs