Master of Science in Forensic Science Program
The Center provides a focus and resources to teach the forensic science related content of the MSFS program at Arcadia University. Its full time staff and adjunct faculty come from a wide variety of backgrounds and expertise, in government and private laboratories, and includes practicing attorneys and specialists in many forensic disciplines.
Our Master’s Degree in forensic science first year of the program ensures that students have the key graduate science coursework necessary for a successful career in forensic science. This includes genetics, molecular biology, statistics, biochemistry, forensic chemistry I, and instrumental analysis. The latter two courses include hands on laboratory coursework dealing with authentic forensic samples and instrumentation, and techniques common to working forensic labs. In addition, students get exposure to subject matter experts from the local forensic science community and get to start making decisions about which disciplines most interest them. In our Master’s degree in forensic science first year Research Methods course, students are taught the basic scientific method and begin selection of a research project they will pursue through the remaining semesters of their degree.
In the summer between first and second year, many students find jobs locally as interns in forensic toxicology laboratories, with coroner’s offices, or in other areas. Some of our students spend the summer as mentors at the Forensics Mentors Institute, an intensive training and development program for high school students in the greater Philadelphia area.
The second year of the Master of Science in Forensic Science Program introduces more applied coursework in forensic toxicology, forensic biology and serology, forensic chemistry II and trace evidence, as well as criminal law and ethics, and moot court. The students also attend local and regional forensic science conferences to begin networking in preparation for job seeking, and learning about how forensic science is practiced in the real world. In 2012, the class attended the American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in Atlanta, GA. Second year students also complete their research project, and participate in an internal internship, where they solve reconstructed cases, with biological chemical and toxicological evidence. The Master of Science in Forensic Science Program’s capstone event is comprised of oral board examinations and a presentation of the students’ project work at a local research symposium.
In 2004, Dr. Fredric Rieders, founder of NMS Labs in Willow Grove PA, reached out to neighboring Arcadia University to create a pioneering Masters of Science in Forensic Science graduate program. It became one of the first programs in the country to be accredited through the Forensic Education Program Accreditation Commission (FEPAC), sponsored by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS).
The program has since graduated 100 students, who have gone on to work in state, federal, forensic science, and private laboratories.
Currently the program has 35 students between its first and second years, who are trained in a wide range of forensic science disciplines, preparing them for all available opportunities in exciting forensic science careers.
