Forensic Psychology Degrees (2026 stats)

Forensic Psychology: what the data shows

Common questions about forensic psychology degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.

What is a forensic psychology degree?

A Forensic Psychology program is classified under NCES CIP 42.2812 in the Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology field family (42.28).

A program that prepares individuals to apply clinical, counseling, school, and neuropsychology skills to the provision of psychological services within the criminal justice and civil legal systems, including consultation, assessment, and interventions. Includes instruction in the epidemiology of mental/behavioral disorders, risk factors for violence and criminality, profiling and patterning, psychological testing, prediction and intervention measurement, forensic assessment, criminal and civil law and procedures, secure environments, forensic treatment and intervention skills, and professional standards and ethics

IPEDS counted 885 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.

Types of forensic psychology degrees and related programs

Other NCES program codes in the 42.28 family with pages on EDsmart Data:

• Applied Behavior Analysis (CIP 42.2814)
• Applied Psychology (CIP 42.2813)
• Clinical Child Psychology (CIP 42.2807)
• Clinical Psychology (CIP 42.2801)
• Community Psychology (CIP 42.2802)
• Counseling Psychology (CIP 42.2803)
• Educational Psychology (CIP 42.2806)
• Environmental Psychology (CIP 42.2808)
• Family Psychology (CIP 42.2811)
• Geropsychology (CIP 42.2809)
• Health/Medical Psychology (CIP 42.2810)
• Industrial and Organizational Psychology (CIP 42.2804)
• Performance and Sport Psychology (CIP 42.2815)
• School Psychology (CIP 42.2805)
• Somatic Psychology (CIP 42.2816)
• Transpersonal/Spiritual Psychology (CIP 42.2817)

How long does it take to get a forensic psychology degree?

Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 42.2812 in our file:

• 885 Bachelor's (35.6% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
• 1,587 Master's (63.8% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
• 14 Doctorate (0.6% of IPEDS total)—varies by program

Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.

What degree do you need?

For Teachers and Instructors, All Other (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).

O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.

What jobs can you get with a forensic psychology degree?

Our degree→occupation mapping links Forensic Psychology to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.

See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.

Is a forensic psychology degree worth it?

College Scorecard national medians for the Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology bachelor's program family: median debt $40,066, median earnings $50,523 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.16.

About 5.6% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.

Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $10,934 and median net price is $19,058.

We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.