Criminalistics

Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminalistics

Resources and Co-curricular Activities

Career Prospects

Criminalistics is the application of science to solve questions that arise

in the criminal justice system.

The job of a criminalist is to:

• use scientific knowledge and analytical skills to objectively find and examine the physical
evidence that may arise in legal cases.
• provide scientific data, in the form of either written reports or expert testimony, to assist law
enforcement officials, lawyers, judges, and juries in making determinations in such cases.

Presently, St. Ambrose University offers the only interdisciplinary undergraduate program in Criminalistics in Iowa
and western Illinois. The curriculum follows closely the standards of the Council on Forensic Science Education
(COFSE) and takes a broad, interdisciplinary approach that includes studies in criminal justice, chemistry, biology,
and physics.

To work in the Criminalistics field, you will need a bachelor’s degree in a science field with a
minimum of 24 semester hours in either chemistry or biology. At St. Ambrose, we have created a
degree that not only gives you the science you need to be successful in this area, but also the
criminal justice courses that enable you to relate the science to the profession.

The Criminalistics degree program integrates classroom instruction, individual research into various specialized
elements of forensic science, and collaboration with local law enforcement agencies to help students achieve an
understanding of the forensic sciences within the context of the larger criminal justice system. Students have the
opportunity for hands-on application of principles within the classroom, laboratory and in a practicum setting. They
gain in-depth knowledge of the various methods of analysis specifically used within the field of forensic science,
including mastery of methods such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and latent fingerprint
development.

Resources and co-curricular activities

Lewis Science Hall contains audio-visual equipped lecture halls and modern laboratories for hands-on training in
modern chemical and biological analysis. Major resources available for faculty and student use include:  

o gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) 

o high performance liquid chromatograph
o atomic absorption spectrometer
o thermal cycler (for PCR)
o and a variety of other instrumentation
In addition, the Criminal Justice Department has contacts with personnel in facilities managed by Iowa and Illinois
law enforcement departments that provide students with excellent internship opportunities.  

Career prospects
Criminalists usually work in forensics laboratories, which are
also called criminalistics labs or crime scene labs. Such labs
are found at federal, regional, and state agencies or within
better equipped local police departments. Private companies
and universities also employ people trained in this field.

According to a recent survey (January, 2008) of job offerings

on the American Academy of Forensic Sciences website,
entry-level bachelor's degree criminalists at the local or state level can earn between $35,000 and
$60,000 per year, depending on location. With a few years experience, the salary can jump to the
$60,000 to $90,000 range, again depending on location. Federal salaries are generally higher.
Most employers credit a higher degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) applicant with at least one year’s
experience.

As most positions are associated with state or federal governments, the actual number of
criminalistics jobs open per year depends on the state or federal budgets. However, according to
the American Board of Criminalistics, at any given time about 200 positions are usually
available.

If you want to teach at the college level or become a supervisor in the forensics field, a higher
degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) will usually be required. The SAU program is a great “launching pad” for
such advanced studies, and we can tailor your studies for the entry requirements of the graduate
program in which you are interested.

For more information on the Criminalistics program at St. Ambrose, contact the program director, Dr.
George Bailey at (563) 333-6127, or by e-mail at BaileyGeorgeD@sau.edu.

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