Forensic Science Prerequisites

Forensic science is a natural-science field, and its entry requirements read like a chemistry or biology degree, not like a criminal justice major. The prerequisites are where many applicants discover the difference, often after choosing a program by its name. This guide explains what the course sequences are, what the field's accrediting body expects, and what individual programs actually publish.

Why the science sequence matters

A laboratory-intensive forensic science degree is built on chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics taken the way science majors take them: with laboratory sections and in order. Those courses are prerequisites for the upper-level forensic coursework, so a late start costs semesters.

That is different from a criminal justice degree with a forensic concentration, which usually adds a few forensic courses to a social-science core. Our criminal justice vs. forensic science guide covers the distinction, and the laboratory science filter shows programs recorded as laboratory-based.

What FEPAC's standards expect

The Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission (FEPAC), part of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, publishes standards for the bachelor's and master's programs it accredits. Its standards document (September 2026 edition) sets the following minimums for an undergraduate general forensic science (criminalistics) program:

• Biology: at least two courses for science majors, with laboratory (minimum 7 semester hours).
• Physics: at least two courses for science majors, with laboratory (minimum 7 semester hours).
• Chemistry: at least four courses with laboratory: two general chemistry and two organic chemistry.
• Mathematics: one differential and integral calculus course and one statistics course, 3 semester hours each at minimum.
• Advanced science: at least 15 further semester hours in upper-level chemistry or biology, with at least two laboratory courses.
• Forensic coursework: a survey course of at least 3 semester hours, at least 6 hours of forensic methods and instrumentation (one with a full semester of laboratory), 6 hours of upper-level forensic courses, and a 3-hour capstone, internship or research project.

The standards treat concentrations differently. The digital evidence track requires computer science coursework and only two laboratory science courses (see digital forensics vs. cybersecurity). The crime scene investigation track requires a statistics course, two laboratory sciences and at least 9 hours of crime scene coursework.

Two other points from the same document are useful. FEPAC says it keeps no separate standards for distance learning, and a program with any remote instruction must still show in-person, hands-on laboratory experiences for every student. And it describes the undergraduate degree as preparation for further study as well as for work, not necessarily a terminal degree.

These are the requirements for FEPAC-accredited programs. Programs without FEPAC accreditation set their own, and the lack of it is not proof that a program is illegitimate; see understanding accreditation and the FEPAC page.

What undergraduate programs publish

Programs state their science requirements in different ways, and they are not interchangeable:

• Gate courses. Penn State's bulletin says entrance to the forensic science major requires a C or better in named chemistry, forensic science, calculus and physics courses. Albany State's catalog says admission to the major requires lab science courses in chemistry and physics with a C or better and a 2.5 cumulative GPA.
• Math placement. The University of Mississippi's forensic chemistry page says admission to the major and first chemistry course requires one of several math or chemistry prerequisites, including an ACT math subscore of 24.
• Full sequences listed up front. The University of North Dakota lists general biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry and physics with laboratories, and states that 80% of class time is spent in the lab.
• Two tracks in one department. Utah Valley University's laboratory emphasis lists calculus, genetics, biological chemistry and organic chemistry I and II with laboratories, and matriculation into the major requires a C or higher in precalculus or college algebra and trigonometry plus college biology and chemistry with labs.

What master's programs publish

Master's programs in forensic science generally expect the undergraduate sequence to be finished before you apply:

• Marshall University requires one academic year each of biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry and physics with labs before entry, with no grade below C.
• Arcadia University requires two semesters each of general chemistry, organic chemistry and general biology, all with laboratories.
• UC Davis lists general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, calculus and statistics, with biology added for the DNA track.
• Buffalo State requires at least 48 credit hours of college science and mathematics, including general and organic chemistry with laboratory, analytical chemistry, biology, genetics and molecular biology or biochemistry.
• Syracuse's advanced laboratory master's requires two semesters of general chemistry, one of calculus or statistics, and a further science with lab, with a minimum of 7 credit hours.

A person with a criminal justice bachelor's degree who wants a laboratory master's should expect post-baccalaureate science coursework first. See the master's degree directory for the programs we list.

How to check a program before you apply

1. Find the catalog or admissions page, not the marketing page. Prerequisites live in the catalog.
2. Count laboratory sections. "Chemistry" without lab usually does not meet a forensic prerequisite.
3. Check minimum grades and whether courses must be taken at the sponsoring school or can be transferred.
4. Check whether the program's course list is for a laboratory track, a crime scene track or a general degree.
5. Ask whether the program is FEPAC-accredited, and for which concentration.

Requirements change by catalog year. Confirm current ones with the program before planning around them.