Key takeaways
- To become a criminal psychologist, you are required to complete a bunch of academic qualifications and training.
- A bachelor’s degree in psychology, criminology, or related field is the best way to kickstart your journey as a criminal psychologist.
- While you can become a criminal psychologist right after graduating, the career excels and becomes prestigious after years of training and education.
- For this career path, most students major in psychology, criminal justice, criminology, or forensic psychology to build a strong foundation.
- You can explore top schools to get a degree in criminal psychology. These schools and colleges in the USA include the University of Denver, Arizona State University, and Florida International University.
- Typically, reaching senior positions in any field requires years of education and experience, and the process cannot be rushed.
Many people wonder about the time frame for specialized careers in fields like criminal justice and law enforcement. So, if your question is “how long does it take to become a criminal psychologist?”, you are probably asking the right questions.
Many people who are interested in becoming a criminal justice warrior through careers like criminal psychology, often worry about how long it takes. Typically, these careers require a lot of academic qualifications, which can be time-consuming.
However, if you have the right timeline breakdown, you can plan and manage your resources accordingly. Therefore, to make the decision easier for you, we delve into the details of the ultimate answer to “how long does it take to become a criminal psychologist?”. Let’s check it out!
How long does it take to become a criminal psychologist?
A criminal psychologist is someone with a keen interest in understanding crime and criminal behavior. If you often wonder what happens in the minds of criminals, you will have a great time studying for this career. However, this is an exceptionally specialized field that requires not only years of education but also a lot of training.
So, if you think becoming a criminal psychologist is your true calling, we have here a complete outline of the steps you need to take. The most important thing to do is to get a bachelor’s degree in criminal psychology or a related field, such as criminal justice. Let’s take a look!
Education required to be a criminal psychologist
To begin with, the journey to becoming a criminal psychologist begins with getting a bachelor’s degree. The bachelor’s degree typically takes four years to complete, with over 120 credit hours to be completed. There are also numerous majors you can choose from. However, the most common major for aspiring criminal psychologists is psychology or related fields like criminal justice, criminology, forensic psychology, or sociology. A degree in these fields provides a strong foundation for your challenging career ahead.
Furthermore, your 4-year college degree for becoming a criminal psychologist will include a diverse range of coursework. More typically, a bachelor’s degree includes core courses, foundational subjects, and electives. So, you will be studying a range of courses that may include:
- General Psychology to understand human behavior and mental processes
- Abnormal Psychology to explore psychological disorders and their impact on behavior
- Criminal Behavior to analyze why individuals commit crimes
- Forensic Psychology to study how psychology applies to the legal and criminal justice systems
- Research Methods & Statistics to learn how to conduct studies and analyze data effectively
Other than these, the most particular courses include:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Psychopathology
- Law and Psychology
- Victimology
- Neuroscience and Behavior
- Ethics in Psychology
- Substance Abuse and Addiction
- Interviewing and Interrogation Techniques
- Crisis Intervention and Counseling
Furthermore, a bachelor’s degree includes a structured and formal coursework or program outline that every student must follow in order to ensure optimal learning. However, coursework can vary from one college to another. So, a more typical and common format followed is:
- Written examinations
- Series of assignments and projects
- Field exposure
- Capstone projects
- Research papers
- Quizzes
- Hands-on practical work
Moreover, all bachelor’s degrees require work experience to qualify you for graduation. So, you may be required to complete a paid or unpaid internship in a related field and job role. If you find full-time employment, that will also count. Essentially, hands-on work experience is necessary. In addition to this, colleges have many career fairs and career building facilities that ensure every student gets practical work experience. Lastly, some of the best places to get relevant work experience include law enforcement agencies, forensic labs, or mental health facilities.
Bachelor’s degree in criminal psychology requirements
All colleges and universities have certain admission requirements that students must fulfill. Therefore, we strongly recommend that during your college planning process, you check out all the details about the degree in criminal psychology requirements. To help you get started, here is a list of most common requirements for a degree in criminal psychology and related fields:
To earn a bachelor’s degree in criminal psychology, students must fulfill specific academic and practical requirements, which typically include:
- High School Diploma or GED to reflect a strong foundation in subjects like psychology, sociology, and statistics is beneficial
- General Education Courses or GED that typically include English, mathematics, natural sciences, and social sciences
- Courses and Certifications in fields like substance abuse, victimology, or legal psychology to tailor their degree
- Internships or Research Projects to reflect hands-on experience and application of knowledge and skills
- Minimum GPA maintenance, usually around 2.5 to 3.0
Where to get a degree to become a criminal psychologist?
So, we have already established that a bachelor’s degree in criminal psychology is very important. A bachelor’s degree and its time frame of 4 to 5 years is the ultimate answer to the question “how long does it take to become a criminal psychologist”
Finally, the big question is “where to get a degree to become a criminal psychologist”. To further guide your college planning, here we provide a list of colleges in the USA that offer the best criminal psychology programs:
University of Denver
- Location: Denver, Colorado
- Acceptance Rate: 61%
- Program: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
Florida International University
- Location: Miami, Florida
- Acceptance Rate: 64%
- Program: Bachelor’s in Psychology with a Forensic Psychology Focus
University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Location: Birmingham, Alabama
- Acceptance Rate: 81%
- Program: Psychology program
Arizona State University
- Location: Tempe, Arizona
- Acceptance Rate: 88%
- Program: Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a Forensic Psychology Focus
How long does it take to be a forensic psychologist?
In practical fields like criminal psychology, forensic psychology, and forensic technician, years of education and training is required. Firstly, these job roles come with a lot of responsibility and high stakes. Typically, these jobs are found in state-level agencies, in departments like homicide and robbery controls. Therefore, a lot of mentorships, certifications, and training are required. Therefore, a typical career time frame to be a forensic psychologist can be around 10 to 15 years.
So, to answer your questions, “how long does it take to be a forensic psychologist?” here is a breakdown of the timeline:
- 4 years for bachelor’s degree in forensic sciences, criminal majors, or related field
- 2 to 3 years for a master’s degree or a higher-education degree for specialization
- 4 to 5 years of Internships and job experience
- 4 to 6 years for doctoral degrees and postdoctoral training
So, now, keep in mind that not everybody is going to have a career path or journey. The time frame can vary. However, the ideal case scenario involves completing the required education and training to have a successful career in forensic psychology.
Enroll in a criminal justice and psychology college today
In conclusion, the answer to “how long does it take to become a criminal psychologist” is not simple and does not apply to everyone. Typically, keeping in mind the time frame of a bachelor’s degree and some additional training, 5 to 6 years should be enough to get you started. However, for a more senior and excelling career, you may require higher education and further more years. Therefore, for a specialized field such as this, it is best to start your college planning and resource management early on.