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Crime Scene Investigation as a Career

Crime Scene Investigations, forensic science, CSI; there are numerous names for this hot career field. Qualified CSI's/Forensic science technicians are in high demand right now. The number of jobs in the crime scene investigation field is expected to increase at a rate much faster than the average career.

We here at CSIDegrees.com have hand-picked the most respected online colleges that offer CSI/Forensic Science/Criminal Justice degree programs.

To find out more about earning your college degree 100% online, enter your zip code in the form on the right. The information is free, why wait? Request more information today ->

Recommended Education

It is recommended that people applying for CSI jobs have college degrees. CSI's with college degrees generally have higher salaries and are promoted faster. For those interested in a career as a Crime Scene Investigator, we have compiled a list of recommended Associates and Bachelors Degrees. Click on any of the degrees to get more information.

Associates Degrees

Bachelors Degrees

Criminal Justice Criminal Justice
Criminal Investigations Crime Scene Investigation
Homeland Security Cyber Crime
  Forensic Science
  Home Land Security
  Computer Crime
  Forensic Psychology

 

What do CSI's/Forensic Science Technicians do?

CSI's/Forensic science technicians investigate crimes by collecting and analyzing physical evidence. Often, they specialize in areas such as DNA analysis or firearm examination, performing tests on weapons or on substances such as fiber, glass, hair, tissue, and body fluids to determine their significance to the investigation.

Forensic science technicians also prepare reports to document their findings and the laboratory techniques used, and they may provide information and expert opinions to investigators. When criminal cases come to trial, forensic science technicians often give testimony as expert witnesses on laboratory findings by identifying and classifying substances, materials, and other evidence collected at the scene of a crime. Some forensic science technicians work closely with other experts or technicians.

Job Outlook

Job growth in local city and state government is driven by an increasing need for more sophisticated forensic techniques to examine and solve crimes. Crime Scene techs who end up working for State or County crime labs have great employment prospects resulting from strong job growth. The demand is high, and those entering the field should expect good promotion and expansion prospects.

CSI Salaries

There are many different sub-fields of Crime Scene Investigation. CSI salaries depend on your experience and education level.

Position

Salary

Crime Lab Analyst I
$16.75 - $21.44 /hour
Crime Scene Analyst
$31.87 - $36.49 /hour
Criminalist
$5,000 - $7,000 /month
Crime Lab Director
$58,000 - $76,000
DNA Analyst
$62,000 - $75,000
Evidence Custodian
$86,400 to $144,000
Firearms Examiner
$2,000 - $5,000 /month
Fingerprint Technician
$30,000 to $46,000/year
Forensic Autopsy Assistant
$24.04 -- $29.08 /hour
Forensic Autopsy Technician
$4,000 - $5,000/month
Forensic Biologist
$46,000 - $64,000
Forensic Evidence Technician
$4,000 - $5,000 /month
Forensic Scientist
$35,000 to $52,000
Law Enforcement Training Officer
$22.00/hr. - $30.00/hr.
Latent Print Examiner
$108,000 to $158,000
Latent Print Technician
$33,000 - $50,000 /year
Toxicologist
$6,000 /month.
Trace Analyst
$2,000 - $3,000 /month

 

Not sure about Online Education?

A lot of people come to us asking, is online education real and is it worth it? The answer to is it real is, YES! Is it worth it, it is only worth as much as you put into it. The schools that CSIDegrees.com represents are accredited so your degree is on par with any other traditional campus based college.

Online degrees can help people in a variety of situations:

  • Stay at home moms or dads
  • People who never got to finish college due to a financial constraint
  • Ambitious people who want to take their career to the next level or make a career jump to a new industry.

One of the things that come to my mind when searching for a new education is cost. Most online colleges offer the same financial aid programs as traditional colleges, so make sure to ask about these. They will assist you in finding financial aid and make your new education very accessible.

The other thing that comes to my mind when I think about education is time. With today's busy lifestyles it is hard to think about how you can balance your personal life with work and school. Many online programs have several paths for completion. You can be very aggressive and try to finish in as little as 14 months for certain programs, or you can take your time and study at your own schedule. Ask the counselor about how classes are structured for the program you are interested in to make sure you can make time for them.

In terms of quality, you are going to find a big range of schools on the internet. We have chosen to represent the best online schools on CSIDegrees.com. Most of the schools utilize the latest technology to teach, and are now regarded as strong school names in the workplace. A good question to ask the counselor is what is the graduation rate and how many of the professors have PhDs. This will give you a much better idea of the quality of education you will get.

Before taking an online education, you should also make an informed choice; we suggest comparing a few schools to get an idea of differences in terms of tuition and programs. On our site, we make it easy to find schools that are similar and can offer you a high quality education, so feel free to request information from more than one.

Good luck on your new online education!

The CSIDegrees.com Team

Turning your life around through Education

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