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Best Online Forensic Psychology Degrees (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Key takeaway: Forensic psychology applies psychological science to legal questions – competency, risk, custody, criminal responsibility, jury behavior, and correctional treatment. The credential rule is strict and worth learning before you enroll: practicing as a forensic psychologist, evaluating a defendant or testifying as a psychological expert, requires a doctorate and a state license as a psychologist. A bachelor’s or master’s in forensic psychology does not lead to that title. Those degrees lead to probation and correctional treatment work, victim advocacy, case management, investigative and analytic support, and research or administrative roles inside courts, corrections, and law enforcement. IPEDS counted 53 institutions reporting bachelor’s-or-higher completions in forensic psychology in 2024, and 48 of them reported offering distance-education programs (IPEDS 2024). Compare accredited programs below.
The academic core is the overlap between two fields that do not naturally share language. On the psychology side: psychopathology, assessment, research methods, developmental and social psychology. On the legal side: criminal law and procedure, rules of evidence, the standards courts use to admit expert testimony, and the ethics of working for a court rather than for a patient. Accredited online programs generally carry the same degree titles as campus programs; browse the best accredited online colleges to compare schools that offer them. To find programs near you, see forensic psychology programs by state.
Schools Offering Forensic Psychology Programs
These accredited schools offer online programs. Request information to compare programs, costs, and formats.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
Careers and Wages for Forensic Psychology Graduates
Forensic psychology graduates work across two labor markets that pay very differently. Doctoral-level licensed psychologists sit in one. Bachelor’s and master’s graduates working in courts, corrections, and community supervision sit in the other. Median annual wages come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
Median annual wage for the highest-paying forensic psychology careers. Source: BLS OEWS. Chart: Best Online College.View the data behind this chart
Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists
$66,270
Rehabilitation Counselors
$46,850
Social and Human Service Assistants
$45,930
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Projected job growth (2024-2034) for forensic psychology careers. Source: BLS Employment Projections. Chart: Best Online College.View the data behind this chart
Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists
2.6%
Rehabilitation Counselors
1.4%
Detectives and Criminal Investigators
-0.7%
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Clinical and Counseling PsychologistsSOC 19-3033
$100,580Median annual pay
Median hourly$48.36
Mean annual$112,750
Employment (US)75,990
Pay range (25-75%)$73,210 - $135,200
Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment SpecialistsSOC 21-1092
$66,270Median annual pay
Median hourly$31.86
Mean annual$73,130
Employment (US)89,390
Pay range (25-75%)$54,250 - $84,780
Detectives and Criminal InvestigatorsSOC 33-3021
$93,790Median annual pay
Median hourly$45.09
Mean annual$99,430
Employment (US)114,430
Pay range (25-75%)$69,330 - $120,520
Forensic Science TechniciansSOC 19-4092
$72,060Median annual pay
Median hourly$34.65
Mean annual$79,200
Employment (US)19,120
Pay range (25-75%)$57,830 - $94,520
Psychologists, All OtherSOC 19-3039
$110,840Median annual pay
Median hourly$53.29
Mean annual$111,210
Employment (US)18,820
Pay range (25-75%)$68,850 - $147,240
Social and Human Service AssistantsSOC 21-1093
$45,930Median annual pay
Median hourly$22.08
Mean annual$47,690
Employment (US)437,860
Pay range (25-75%)$38,150 - $54,350
First-Line Supervisors of Police and DetectivesSOC 33-1012
$106,040Median annual pay
Median hourly$50.98
Mean annual$112,190
Employment (US)154,610
Pay range (25-75%)$81,860 - $132,620
Rehabilitation CounselorsSOC 21-1015
$46,850Median annual pay
Median hourly$22.52
Mean annual$51,820
Employment (US)94,740
Pay range (25-75%)$38,770 - $59,260
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Psychologists, all other – the BLS category that carries forensic and correctional psychologists who are not classified as clinical, counseling, school, or industrial-organizational – had a median annual wage of $110,840; the 10th percentile was $54,990 and the 90th percentile $168,520 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Employment was 55,300 in 2024, projected to grow 4.3 percent through 2034, with about 3,900 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Clinical and counseling psychologists, the larger category that many forensic practitioners are counted in when their work is mostly clinical, had a median annual wage of $100,580; the 10th percentile was $55,170 and the 90th percentile $180,960 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS); employment was 76,300 in 2024, projected to grow 11.2 percent with about 4,800 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Both of those occupations sit behind a doctorate and a state license.
Below the license, the picture changes. Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists had a median annual wage of $66,270; the 10th percentile was $46,840 and the 90th percentile $107,790 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS); employment was 92,300 in 2024, projected to grow 2.6 percent with about 7,900 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Social and human service assistants, a common first job for bachelor’s graduates in victim services and case management, had a median annual wage of $45,930 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), with 6.4 percent projected growth and about 50,600 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034) – by far the largest volume of openings on this list. Detectives and criminal investigators had a median annual wage of $93,790 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), but employment is projected to decline 0.7 percent through 2034 with about 7,800 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034), and entry runs through police hiring and academy training rather than through a psychology transcript. Individual outcomes vary by employer, jurisdiction, specialization, and experience.
Quick Answers
What is a forensic psychology degree?
A forensic psychology degree teaches psychological science as it is used in legal settings: assessment and psychopathology, research methods, criminal behavior, the structure of criminal and civil procedure, evidence standards, and the ethics of evaluating someone who is not your client. At the bachelor’s level it is usually a BA or BS, or a concentration inside a psychology or criminal justice major. At the master’s level it is typically an MA or MS built for court, corrections, and agency work.
Can I become a forensic psychologist with an online bachelor’s or master’s?
No. The title “psychologist” is protected in every state. Practicing forensic psychology – conducting competency or risk evaluations, or testifying as a psychological expert – requires a doctorate (PhD or PsyD), supervised practice hours, a passing score on the national licensing examination, and a license from a state psychology board. A bachelor’s or master’s is a step toward that path or a qualification for adjacent roles, not a substitute for it. See how to become a forensic psychologist.
What jobs does a bachelor’s or master’s actually reach?
Probation and parole officer, correctional treatment specialist, victim advocate, case manager, intake and diversion staff, juvenile services worker, court program coordinator, crime and intelligence analyst, and research or program-evaluation roles inside criminal justice agencies. Many of these hire on the bachelor’s plus an agency academy or certification, not on the specific major.
Is forensic psychology the same as criminal profiling?
No. Profiling as television presents it is a small, mostly federal activity, and it is not what forensic psychology programs train. The routine work is evaluation and report writing: competency to stand trial, risk of violent or sexual reoffending, mitigation in sentencing, child custody, fitness for duty, and treatment planning in correctional settings.
Is there a programmatic accreditor for forensic psychology?
Not at the bachelor’s or master’s level. The American Psychological Association accredits doctoral programs in health service psychology – clinical, counseling, and school psychology – plus internships and postdoctoral residencies, and that accreditation matters if the doctorate is your goal. For an undergraduate or terminal master’s degree, institutional accreditation is the check that matters; verify it through the U.S. Department of Education database.
What you’ll study
Forensic psychology curricula generally stack three layers, and the second one is what separates a real program from a psychology degree with a crime-themed elective.
The first layer is psychology proper. Introductory and abnormal psychology, developmental and social psychology, personality theory, statistics, and research methods. Assessment appears here in an introductory form: what a psychological test measures, what reliability and validity mean, and why a score is not a diagnosis. This layer is why credit in a general psychology major usually transfers cleanly into a forensic psychology major.
The second layer is law and procedure. How a criminal case moves from arrest to disposition, what the rules of evidence let an expert say, how courts decide whether scientific testimony is admissible, and where the civil side – custody, guardianship, personal injury, civil commitment – creates its own referral questions. Programs that skip this produce graduates who can describe a disorder but not answer the question a judge asked.
The third layer is applied forensic practice. Competency and criminal responsibility, violence and sexual-offense risk assessment, eyewitness memory and interrogation research, malingering and response style, correctional treatment models, juvenile justice, and report writing. Report writing deserves its own mention: the deliverable in this field is a document that a hostile attorney will read line by line.
Undergraduate programs generally run about 120 semester hours with the forensic core concentrated in the junior and senior years. Master’s programs vary widely in length and in whether they are designed as a terminal practice degree or as preparation for doctoral study. Confirm each school’s credit total, calendar, and any practicum or internship requirement rather than assuming they match. See how online forensic psychology degrees work for how practicum and supervision are handled at a distance.
Careers for forensic psychology graduates
The work sorts into four recognizable shapes, and they are gated differently.
Licensed forensic practice is the doctoral path: court-ordered evaluations, expert testimony, correctional and forensic hospital treatment, and consultation to attorneys and agencies. It requires the doctorate, the supervised hours, the licensing examination, and the license. Board certification in forensic psychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology is an additional specialty credential, not a substitute for licensure.
Community supervision and correctional treatment is the largest employer of bachelor’s and master’s graduates in this silo. Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists assess risk with structured instruments, write reports for courts and parole boards, and manage caseloads. See corrections and how to become a probation officer for the hiring path, which typically involves a bachelor’s degree, a background investigation, and an agency academy.
Victim services, advocacy, and case management hire heavily on the bachelor’s. The pay band is lower and the openings are numerous, which makes this a common entry point and a common place people stall unless they add a graduate credential in counseling or social work.
Investigative and analytic support covers crime analysis, intelligence analysis, behavioral research units, and civilian roles inside law enforcement agencies. Sworn investigative jobs run through police hiring rather than through the degree; see criminal justice and how to become a detective. If the appeal is physical evidence rather than human behavior, that is forensic science, a different laboratory discipline.
How to choose an online forensic psychology program
Accreditation – confirm recognized institutional accreditation through the U.S. Department of Education database. If the doctorate is the goal, confirm that any doctoral program you later apply to holds American Psychological Association accreditation.
Be honest about the endpoint – if you want to conduct evaluations and testify, you are on a doctoral track and the bachelor’s and master’s are waypoints. If you want agency work, a terminal master’s is a reasonable destination.
Check the law content – confirm the curriculum includes criminal procedure, evidence, and admissibility standards, not only crime-themed psychology electives.
Degree level – compare the bachelor’s and the master’s, and read whether the master’s is built as a terminal practice degree or as doctoral preparation.
Doctoral preparation, if that is the aim – research methods, statistics, and a supervised research or thesis experience are what doctoral admissions committees read. A master’s without a thesis option is a weaker springboard.
Practicum and supervision – ask whether the program places students or expects you to find your own site, and whether an online student in your state can be placed at all.
Cost – compare total program cost including fees, not the advertised per-credit rate, and review how to evaluate affordability.
Forensic psychology or a related field? Choose forensic psychology for psychological science applied to legal questions. Choose psychology for the broader discipline and the cleanest route to a doctoral program. Choose criminal justice for the systems, policy, and enforcement side. Choose forensic science for laboratory analysis of physical evidence. Choose corrections for supervision and institutional work, or counseling if licensed therapy rather than court evaluation is the goal.
