Forensic Psychology

Types of Degrees Forensic Psychology Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many forensic psychology graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	1,487
Bachelor’s Degree	926
Graduate Certificate	75
Basic Certificate	63
Doctor’s Degree	46
Undergraduate Certificate	4

What Forensic Psychology Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to forensic psychology were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Forensic Psychology Majors

Forensic Psychology majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Forensic Psychology Majors

When studying forensic psychology, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Forensic Psychology Majors

As a forensic psychology major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Forensic Psychology Major?

People with a forensic psychology degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Neuropsychologists and Clinical Neuropsychologists	10.3%	$100,770
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Security Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Forensic Psychology?

This major is dominated by women with about 84% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of forensic psychology majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	57
Black or African American	90
Hispanic or Latino	418
White	271
International Students	29
Other Races/Ethnicities	61

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Forensic Psychology. About 3.1% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Forensic Psychology

Some careers associated with forensic psychology require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for forensic psychology careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	2.2%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	2.7%
Some College Courses	0.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	5.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	49.3%
Master’s Degree	10.7%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	2.0%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	1.1%
Doctoral Degree	2.0%
Post-Doctoral Training	24.6%

Online Forensic Psychology Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	1	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	8	2
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	32	8
Post-Master’s	5	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	5	2
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Forensic Psychology

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to forensic psychology.

Major	Number of Grads
Counseling Psychology	11,005
Applied Behavior Analysis	6,810
Clinical Psychology	5,823
School Psychology	3,646
Industrial & Organizational Psychology	2,785
Applied Psychology	2,536
Educational Psychology	2,114
Other Psychology & Counseling	638
Community Psychology	544
Health/Medical Psychology	396
Performance and Sport Psychology	210
Clinical Child Psychology	126
Family Psychology	56
Transpersonal/Spiritual Psychology	28
Environmental Psychology	8
Geropsychology	0

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.