Computer & Digital Forensics Major

Our Upside-Down Curriculum allows you to begin taking your classes in Computer & Digital Forensics degree program in the first semester of your first year.

Why Computer & Digital Forensics?

What are authorities finding on the computers, flash drives and cell phones confiscated from Osama bin Laden's compound? How are drug traffickers using the Microsoft Xbox to communicate in illicit activities?

Digital devices and data are often the smoking guns in today's most ingenious crimes. Unlocking these secrets, preserving the evidence and upholding the laws of compliance is the passion of those who go into the digital forensics field.

Computer and digital forensics is an exploding field with a staggering number of opportunities in local, state and federal law enforcement agencies as well as private-sector firms engaged in digital investigations, data recovery and electronic discovery; or forensics software development; information security; and businesses with significant policy auditing requirements for information assurance.

Why Computer & Digital Forensics at Champlain?

Taught exclusively by digital forensics experts who have extensive fieldwork experience and ongoing affiliations with the digital forensics community, the Computer & Digital Forensics program at Champlain is the premier destination in the country for those who want to study digital forensics.

Starting in the first semester, students begin foundational computer and forensics courses that give them all the grounding they need to excel in the ambitious curriculum of forensics courses—even if they had limited computer knowledge coming into the program.

Over the next semesters of the program, students gain mastery-level understanding of digital forensics through our extensive forensics curriculum: ten industry-based digital forensics courses—shaped by leading digital forensics professionals and featuring fully updated cutting-edge forensics course content like Mobile Forensics and Digital Forensic Tool Evaluation—plus a well-rounded curriculum in networking, security, law and ethics.

Each course takes a detailed, hands-on approach that prepares our students to succeed in digital forensic internships, as well as taking on positions in the Patrick Leahy Center for Digital Investigation—a fully equipped, state-of-the-art laboratory for digital forensics.

The program culminates in the Senior Capstone Experience in which students research new ways to combine combine forensic/investigative techniques to new technologies like Android phones, the Apple iphone, Malware Forensics, or the issues surrounding Internet applications, digital forensics or cyber security.

The combination of the deep forensics curriculum and hands-on learning gives students in this program the credentials to be immediately employable in this highly selective field.

Opportunities include local, state and federal law enforcement agencies; private-sector firms engaged in digital investigations, data recovery and electronic discovery; forensics software development; information security; and businesses with significant policy auditing requirements for information assurance.

Experience the current trends in digital forensics — all those rapid evolutions that are happening outside in the field — right in the classroom, through our faculty's ongoing connections to and work with local law enforcement and the digital forensics industry.
Tailor your digital forensics degree with a specialization or minor that will help you build a highly marketable resume. Specializations include Computer Science, Cyber Investigation, Economic Crime Investigation, and Information Assurance. Or work with your faculty advisor to create your own specialization or minor.
Take advantage of the opportunity to earn a Master's degree in Digital Forensic Science through our combined BS/MS program. Through our Digital Forensic Science 4+1 program, you'll have your Bachelor's and Master's degrees in a total of five years.
Get unparalleled, hands-on experience in the Patrick Leahy Center for Digital Investigation (LCDI) working in a real digital forensics investigation lab where you will have the opportunity to work alongside professional digital forensics investigators and law enforcement officials conducting actual investigations.
Participate in the Digital Forensics Student Association. This student-run organization brings guest speakers to campus and hosts special programs and events.
Build your professional network, when forensic industry recruiters come to campus to fill openings for summer internships and full-time forensic positions