Touro University Worldwide offers three online forensic psychology pathways: a BA in Psychology with a Forensic Psychology concentration, an MA in Psychology with a Forensic Psychology concentration, and a dedicated MS in Forensic Psychology. The university also has a business degree with a Criminal Justice concentration, but that option contains only one forensic psychology course and is not equivalent to a psychology degree.
These programs focus on human behavior, criminal behavior, law, psychological assessment, victimization, and related justice-system issues. They are not crime scene investigation or laboratory forensic science programs. The curricula do not include fingerprint processing, evidence collection, forensic chemistry, DNA analysis, firearms examination, or crime-scene reconstruction.
That difference affects career planning. A TUW forensic psychology degree can support nonlicensed work in corrections, victim services, research, court or agency programs, and related human-service settings. It does not prepare a graduate to become a criminalist or crime-scene technician. It also does not, by itself, qualify someone for independent practice as a psychologist in California.
Touro University Worldwide is a nonprofit online institution with an administrative location in Los Alamitos, California. Its forensic psychology programs are delivered online rather than through a residential Los Alamitos campus. Readers comparing TUW with other institutions can find additional profiles in this guide to California CSI and forensic schools.
TUW forensic psychology programs compared
The main choice is between foundational undergraduate study, a broad graduate psychology degree with limited forensic specialization, and a graduate degree devoted primarily to forensic psychology.
| Program | Forensic psychology content | Format | Published practical requirements | Licensure result | Standard tuition basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA in Psychology with Forensic Psychology concentration | Four concentration courses totaling 12 credits | 100% online, eight-week sessions, no residency | No internship, clinical practicum, forensic laboratory, or crime-scene placement listed | Does not lead to licensure or certification | $400 per credit |
| MA in Psychology with Forensic Psychology concentration | Three concentration courses totaling 9 credits within a 36-credit degree | 100% online, eight-week sessions, no residency | No internship, supervised clinical placement, or residency listed | Does not lead to licensure or certification | $500 per credit |
| MS in Forensic Psychology | 27 credits of required forensic psychology study plus a 9-credit concentration | 100% online, eight-week sessions, no residency | No internship, practicum, supervised assessment placement, or campus visit listed | Does not lead to licensure or certification | $500 per credit |
| BSBA with Criminal Justice concentration | One forensic psychology course within a four-course criminal justice concentration | 100% online | No forensic practicum, laboratory, or clinical placement listed | Not a psychology licensure pathway | $400 per credit standard rate |
The dedicated MS has the greatest concentration of forensic coursework. The MA is an applied psychology degree in which one-quarter of the credits belong to the forensic concentration. The BA provides a broader undergraduate psychology foundation with four forensic-related courses.
California licensure and the meaning of “forensic psychologist”
California regulates the practice of psychology. According to the California Board of Psychology, independent psychologist licensure requires a qualifying doctoral degree, 3,000 hours of supervised professional experience, passage of the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology and the California Psychology Laws and Ethics Examination, and satisfaction of other state requirements.
Neither TUW master’s program is a licensure program. TUW states directly that its MA and MS do not lead to licensure or certification. The BA also does not prepare graduates for independent psychological practice.
This means graduates should separate the academic field of forensic psychology from the regulated role of a licensed forensic psychologist. A student can study law, criminal behavior, psychopathology, victimology, and forensic assessment without becoming authorized to diagnose patients, provide independent clinical services, or conduct psychological evaluations as a licensed psychologist.
California also has a Psychological Associate registration category involving supervised practice. A master’s degree in psychology can potentially meet the educational component, but the Board determines whether a particular degree qualifies. Psychological Associate registration is supervised practice, not independent psychologist licensure. TUW does not present either master’s degree as a California Psychological Associate licensure or registration program.
BA in Psychology with a Concentration in Forensic Psychology
TUW’s Bachelor of Arts in Psychology is a 120-credit online degree. The curriculum consists of 45 general education credits, 39 psychology core credits, 24 elective credits, and a 12-credit concentration.
The Forensic Psychology concentration includes four courses:
- PSY 323 Forensic Psychology
- PSY 401 Applied Social Psychology
- PSY 413 Criminal Behavior
- PSY 415 Psychology and the Law
These courses introduce the relationship between psychology and legal proceedings, theories of criminal behavior, the social influences that shape behavior, and psychological questions arising in courts and criminal justice agencies. TUW identifies topics such as insanity, competency, eyewitness testimony, interrogation, offender rehabilitation, criminal profiling, mental health courts, and jury decision-making.
The broader psychology core gives the degree more depth than the concentration alone might suggest. Core subjects include research methods, psychological assessment, ethics, abnormal psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, personality, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, and a capstone. That foundation is useful for graduate psychology study because students encounter research design, behavioral theory, and multiple branches of psychology before specializing.
TUW reports that the BA curriculum is aligned with American Psychological Association undergraduate curriculum guidelines. This is a curriculum-alignment statement, not APA programmatic accreditation.
Format and practical training
The BA is delivered entirely online in eight-week sessions. TUW lists six starts per year and no residency requirement. The university describes four years as a typical completion time, with a possible 3.5-year full-time schedule.
The current curriculum does not list an internship, agency field placement, clinical practicum, crime-scene exercise, or campus laboratory. The final academic requirement is a psychology capstone. An experimental psychology course appears among the electives, but it is not a forensic laboratory course.
The online structure suits working adults and transfer students who need to complete coursework without moving to Los Alamitos. The tradeoff is limited built-in experiential education. Someone seeking supervised work in a court, correctional setting, treatment program, or victim-service agency would need to develop that experience outside the published degree requirements.
Admissions, transfer credit, and cost
Applicants can enter as high school graduates, GED recipients, or transfer students in good standing. TUW may accept up to 90 semester credits toward the bachelor’s degree, subject to its transfer and course-equivalency policies. A student transferring the maximum applicable credit would complete at least 30 credits through TUW, while someone entering without transfer credit would complete the full 120-credit curriculum.
The standard bachelor’s tuition is $400 per credit. At that rate, completing all 120 credits through TUW would equal $48,000 in tuition. TUW also publishes a one-time $200 degree audit and graduation fee. Transfer credit and scholarships can reduce the amount paid to TUW, while future tuition changes could increase it.
TUW states that online materials are provided without a textbook requirement and lists no separate library, media, parking, student-service, or technology fee. Students still need a computer, compatible software, and reliable internet access. Some courses can require additional software.
Career alignment
The BA is best understood as undergraduate psychology preparation with a forensic emphasis. It can support entry-level or support roles in victim services, probation-related programs, corrections, community services, research support, and other criminal justice or human-service organizations. Actual hiring requirements vary by agency and job title.
The degree also provides a foundation for graduate education in psychology, counseling, social work, criminal justice, or related fields. It does not contain the advanced supervised clinical preparation required for psychological practice, and it does not offer the physical science curriculum needed for crime-laboratory employment.
MA in Psychology with a Concentration in Forensic Psychology
The 36-credit Master of Arts in Psychology is a broad applied psychology degree with a nine-credit Forensic Psychology concentration. Its general psychology core accounts for 27 credits, while three courses form the specialization:
- MPS 671 Law and Psychology
- MPS 673 Theories of Criminal Behavior
- MPS 675 Assessment in Forensic Psychology
The concentration addresses legal applications of psychology, explanations for criminal behavior, and the literature and methods associated with forensic assessment. The assessment course is academic preparation. It is not a supervised clinical assessment practicum.
The remaining curriculum covers applied psychology, lifespan development, media and technology, consumer psychology, group dynamics, research methods and statistics, professional ethics, health psychology, and a capstone. As a result, the MA has a broader applied-psychology identity than the MS in Forensic Psychology.
This route works better for someone who wants graduate study across several applied psychology areas while retaining a smaller law-and-criminal-behavior specialty. The nine-credit concentration is materially narrower than the MS curriculum, which dedicates most of its credits to forensic subjects.
Delivery and completion time
The MA is 100% online, uses eight-week sessions, and has six starts per year. There is no residency requirement. TUW gives 1.5 years as a typical completion time and describes a one-year option for full-time students taking 12 credits per semester.
No internship, clinical practicum, supervised agency placement, or campus residency appears in the published degree plan. Students complete an academic capstone rather than a supervised practice requirement. This format favors schedule and location flexibility but provides less structured professional experience than a program with embedded fieldwork.
Admission and tuition
Admission normally requires a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and a minimum 2.5 overall GPA. Graduate-transfer applicants need good standing and at least a 2.75 GPA. TUW does not require the GRE or GMAT.
Current policy permits up to nine equivalent graduate credits with a grade of B-minus or higher to transfer into a master’s program. Applying the full nine credits to this 36-credit degree would leave 27 credits to complete at TUW, provided the courses satisfy degree requirements.
At the standard graduate tuition rate of $500 per credit, the complete 36-credit program equals $18,000 in tuition. Adding the published $200 degree audit and graduation fee produces $18,200 in listed direct university charges before transfer credit or discounts. This is a tuition-based estimate, not a full cost-of-attendance figure.
Career use
The MA may support work in victim advocacy, family-service organizations, correctional programs, research, court support, community agencies, or administrative roles involving behavioral knowledge. Its broad curriculum can also serve as academic preparation for doctoral study, although doctoral admissions requirements differ by institution.
Readers primarily interested in forensic psychology will receive only three courses in that specialty. Those seeking the largest share of forensic content at TUW will find the MS more closely aligned with that goal.
Master of Science in Forensic Psychology
The 36-credit MS in Forensic Psychology is TUW’s most specialized option. It consists of 27 credits of required forensic psychology coursework and a nine-credit concentration.
Required subjects include:
- Introduction to forensic psychology
- Theories of criminal behavior
- Ethics
- Law and forensic psychology
- Psychopathology
- Applied research methods and statistics
- Family violence
- Forensic assessment
- A culminating capstone
Students then select one of two concentrations.
Community Criminal Issues concentration
The Community Criminal Issues concentration includes coursework in:
- Juvenile delinquency
- Gangs and crime
- Substance abuse and criminal behavior
This sequence is more closely connected to community intervention, corrections, youth programs, prevention initiatives, and the social conditions surrounding criminal behavior. It can be useful preparation for nonclinical program, research, or support positions in government and nonprofit organizations.
Sex Offender Issues concentration
The Sex Offender Issues concentration covers:
- Human sexuality and sexual deviance
- Sex offenses and offenders
- Victimology
This path examines offending, victimization, and behavioral issues related to sexual crimes. It may be relevant to victim-service organizations, correctional programs, research, case-support work, and agencies addressing sexual violence. The coursework does not authorize graduates to conduct independent clinical evaluations or treatment.
Online structure and absence of a practicum
The MS is delivered entirely online in eight-week sessions with six starts per year. No campus residency is required. TUW lists 1.5 years as the typical completion time, along with a possible one-year full-time schedule.
The current program requirements do not list an internship, supervised assessment placement, clinical practicum, forensic laboratory, or campus visit. Coursework addresses competency, risk, psychopathology, interrogation, eyewitness evidence, family violence, and assessment, but these subjects are studied academically. The capstone is a culminating project that may involve research or procedural development rather than supervised psychological practice.
This distinction is central to evaluating the degree. The MS provides greater academic specialization than TUW’s MA concentration, but it remains a nonlicensure online program without an embedded clinical training sequence.
Admission, transfer, and tuition
Applicants normally need an accredited bachelor’s degree and a minimum 2.5 GPA. Graduate-transfer applicants need at least a 2.75 GPA and good academic standing. No GRE or GMAT is required.
Up to nine qualifying graduate credits can generally transfer into the degree. Because the curriculum is highly specialized, the practical usefulness of transfer credit depends on how closely previous courses match TUW’s requirements.
The 36-credit program costs $18,000 in tuition at the published $500-per-credit rate. With the one-time $200 degree audit and graduation fee, the direct listed total is $18,200 before eligible transfer credit or discounts.
Career alignment
Among TUW’s offerings, the MS provides the clearest preparation for nonlicensed roles involving forensic psychology knowledge. Potential settings include correctional agencies, victim-advocacy organizations, legal support services, community programs, research organizations, law-enforcement support units, and behavioral or policy programs.
Job titles require careful interpretation. Positions labeled forensic psychologist or correctional psychologist commonly require licensure, a doctorate, supervised experience, or employer-specific clinical qualifications. The MS can provide relevant subject knowledge without satisfying those professional requirements.
The program is also unsuitable for laboratory criminalistics or field CSI work. There is no chemistry, biology, instrumentation, evidence processing, photography, fingerprint examination, or crime-scene documentation sequence. A reader targeting criminalist, forensic biologist, forensic chemist, latent print examiner, or crime-scene technician positions needs a different curriculum.
The adjacent BSBA Criminal Justice option
TUW also offers a BSBA with a Criminal Justice concentration. This is a business administration degree rather than a forensic psychology program.
The 12-credit concentration contains four courses:
- Introduction to Criminal Justice System
- Criminal Processes and Procedures
- Forensic Psychology
- Criminal Justice in World Culture
Only one course is specifically devoted to forensic psychology. The remainder of the degree focuses on business and management, and the culminating requirement is a business capstone.
This option fits administrative, business, legal-support, or management goals within justice organizations better than psychology practice or behavioral research goals. It does not provide the psychology core found in the BA, the graduate psychology foundation found in the MA, or the concentrated forensic curriculum of the MS.
The BSBA is programmatically accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs. ACBSP accreditation concerns business education, not forensic psychology or forensic science.
Accreditation
Touro University Worldwide is institutionally accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission. WSCUC lists TUW as a nonprofit institution in Los Alamitos and records its latest Commission action on June 27, 2025.
Institutional accreditation applies to the university as a whole. No separate forensic psychology programmatic accreditation was identified for the BA concentration, MA concentration, or MS.
FEPAC accreditation is not the appropriate measure for these degrees. The Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission evaluates forensic science education, particularly programs connected to laboratory science and criminalistics. TUW’s programs are psychology degrees and concentrations, not forensic chemistry, biology, or crime-laboratory programs.
Choosing among TUW’s psychology pathways
The BA is the entry point for someone without a bachelor’s degree who wants a psychology foundation and an introduction to criminal behavior and law. Its transfer allowance can shorten the path for learners who already have substantial college credit. It remains an undergraduate degree and does not provide graduate-level clinical or forensic authority.
The MA is broader than its title concentration may initially suggest. Twenty-seven of its 36 credits address applied psychology outside the forensic concentration. It fits goals requiring general applied psychology study with limited exposure to law, criminal behavior, and assessment.
The MS devotes most of its curriculum to forensic psychology and adds a focused concentration in either community criminal issues or sex offender issues. It is the closest match at TUW for research, program, corrections, victim-services, or policy interests centered on crime and behavior.
None of these options includes a required internship or supervised clinical practicum. Readers who need direct professional experience as part of the degree will find that limitation significant. Conversely, the online, no-residency format reduces geographic barriers and permits study without regular travel to Los Alamitos.
Career goals should drive the final selection. Choose psychology coursework for behavior, law, victimization, corrections, and human-service applications. Choose a laboratory science degree for criminalist or crime-lab work. Choose a field-oriented CSI program for evidence recognition, photography, scene documentation, fingerprints, chain of custody, and reconstruction. TUW’s programs occupy the psychology side of that divide, with the MS providing the deepest forensic specialization and the BA and MA retaining broader psychology curricula.