The George Washington University Department of Forensic Sciences will graduate students with the necessary technical and theoretical knowledge, skills, and abilities with classical and modern forensic techniques and instrumentation to enter a forensic science career and to compete in the market place.  We will accomplish this through rigorous scientific scholarship, hands-on experiences, inspiring mentorship, and a stimulating academic environment conducive to and providing for opportunities to conduct  research and scholarly inquiry and otherwise to contribute to the knowledge base of forensic science and improvement of the forensic community.   We will take advantage of our location in the nation’s capital, our national security hub, and forensic laboratory- and investigation-rich environment.  Our orientation is towards objective science-based study and application, with exposure to cutting edge research and practitioner-based mentorship.  Our philosophy is that modern forensic science requires specialization in the field.

GW is home to one of the oldest and most prestigious forensic sciences programs in the country. Located in the Washington, D.C. metro area—the U.S. national security hub—students are in close proximity to the greatest concentration of federal crime labs and investigatory agencies in the world. These facilities provide unique access to forensic sciences experts, in addition to competitive internship and job opportunities.

We offer the following graduate programs:

Master of Forensic Sciences (MFS)

• MFS in the field of Forensic Chemistry (Mount Vernon Campus)
• MFS in the field of Forensic Molecular Biology (Mount Vernon Campus)
• MFS in the field of Forensic Toxicology (Mount Vernon Campus)
• MFS in in the filed of Friction Ridge Analysis (Mount Vernon Campus)

Master of Science (MS)

• MS in Crime Scene Investigation (Mount Vernon Campus)
• MS in Digital Foreniscs (Arlington Graduate Education Center)

Graduate Certificates

• Graduate Certificate in Digital Investigations
• Graduate Certificate in Forensic Investigation
• Graduate Certificate in Latent Print Examination