Champlain College Named National Center Of Excellence For Digital Forensics

Opening of the Senator Patrick Leahy Center for Digital Investigation at Champlain College in 2012

Champlain College has been designated as a National Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence (CDFAE) by the Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3). Champlain is the first school in the northeast, the only private college, and the fifth higher education institution in the country to receive this distinction. Champlain College is a private, nonprofit college that offers professionally-focused bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and certificates to more than 3,000 students on-campus and online.

As a Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence, Champlain College meets or exceeds the standards set forth by the DC3 to be leading educators of future digital forensics professionals. Champlain College has produced highly sought after graduates within its digital forensics and cyber security programs, many whom have received job offers across a broad range of industries well before graduation.

"Being the first school in the northeast to receive the DC3 designation as a National Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence is an incredible honor," Jonathan Rajewski, assistant professor and director of the Senator Patrick Leahy Center for Digital Investigation at Champlain College. "Our educators work diligently to ensure our students are equipped with the latest technology and knowledge available in the digital forensics, and by being designated as a CDFAE, we are ensuring that our curriculum aligns with the growing needs of the cybersecurity industry."

The CDFAE program was born out of the need to develop highly-skilled professionals to address the explosion in digital crimes occurring in every area of government and industry throughout the world. DC3 established this program to address specific skills the Department of Defense identified as crucial for specialists to possess in the high-stakes professions of cyber security and digital forensics. The CDFAE designation creates an opportunity for colleges and universities to work with the government to ensure graduates are prepared to support the increasing digital forensic demands on law enforcement, government and corporate security.

The CDFAE designation is the most recent recognition the college has received for excellence in digital forensics and cyber security education. Champlain College is also a Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as a Model Electronic Crime and Digital Investigation Programs institution by the National Institute of Justice. Additionally, the college was named Best Cyber Security Higher Education Program for 2013 by SC Magazine.


Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and over 90 residential undergraduate and online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain's distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 384 Colleges: 2019 Edition. For the fourth year in a row, Champlain was named a "Most Innovative School" in the North by U.S. News & World Report's 2019 "America's Best Colleges,” and a “Best Value School” and is ranked in the top 100 “Regional Universities of the North” and in the top 25 for “Best Undergraduate Teaching.” Champlain is also featured in the Fiske Guide to Colleges for 2019 as one of the "best and most interesting schools" in the United States, Canada and Great Britain and is a 2019 College of Distinction. For more information, visit champlain.edu.