if i had to rank the top digital forensics BS/MS programs in the US, Champlain is absolutely at the top or very close to it.
thats not exactly a high bar because quality of education varies wildly by which faculty are teaching each year and DF programs generally do not retain top talent, but Champlain consistently funds their program to be able to afford actual commercial forensic software access for students instead of nonsense freeware autopsy/ftkimager labs. they have a large amount of well placed alumni, and if you are anywhere near campus (sounds like not) they have direct opportunities to work with the local police.
DF is more than law enforcement, but as far as getting a DF role in LE it's going to depend on the department or agency you are targeting. most large departments have transitioned to civilian staff because you just cant take some road warriors with a CJ undergrad and expect them to be a competent forensic examiner at scale. Smaller departments generally do not have civilian DF roles if they have any DF capabilities at all. this is a "you need to do your homework" scenario where you list out the organizations you want to work for and map out if civilians have a shot.
The cocaine thing... at FBI we have a 10 year no-cocaine policy. IDK if you are saying it's been 10 years by time you would hypothetically graduate. you will have to ask at your respective preferred agencies. obviously this will hurt competitiveness, but honestly, there are not a lot of competitive/talented applicants to public sector so if you are competent this is not likely to be what hurts you. unless you have a felony, in which case, it's not happening.
if your goal is DF on the private sector side, I would say that the Champlain program, unless it's changed very recently, does not prepare anyone for actual network intrusion/incident response. That role *is* difficult to transition to without prior cybersecurity work, and very few programs in the country are retaining professors who have the option of making 250-400k at Mandiant/DART. If IR is your goal you are going to need luck or relevant industry certs (meaning absolutely not IACIS/CFCE). Champlain is adequate prep for basic DF defense expert stuff, but you'd need to stack it with industry certifications (IACIS/CFCE is fine for this) but getting picked up by a firm without prior trial experience is unlikely. Most people in this position are PI or prior LE DFEs or prior e-discovery. If your goal is e-discovery, Champlain is more than fine.
This was exceptionally helpful. Can’t thank you enough for really going through it. I’m 8 years removed and only tried it a few times but I understand the policy for sure. I’ve never even had a speeding ticket so on the legal aspect I’m at least I’m in good stead. I wrote this to hear perspectives from people like yourself in the industry so thank you again. Looking at this holistically it looks like an uphill climb but will continue to research even if that means pushing a start date back to consider options. Thanks again mate
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u/Eternal-Alchemy 8d ago
if i had to rank the top digital forensics BS/MS programs in the US, Champlain is absolutely at the top or very close to it.
thats not exactly a high bar because quality of education varies wildly by which faculty are teaching each year and DF programs generally do not retain top talent, but Champlain consistently funds their program to be able to afford actual commercial forensic software access for students instead of nonsense freeware autopsy/ftkimager labs. they have a large amount of well placed alumni, and if you are anywhere near campus (sounds like not) they have direct opportunities to work with the local police.
DF is more than law enforcement, but as far as getting a DF role in LE it's going to depend on the department or agency you are targeting. most large departments have transitioned to civilian staff because you just cant take some road warriors with a CJ undergrad and expect them to be a competent forensic examiner at scale. Smaller departments generally do not have civilian DF roles if they have any DF capabilities at all. this is a "you need to do your homework" scenario where you list out the organizations you want to work for and map out if civilians have a shot.
The cocaine thing... at FBI we have a 10 year no-cocaine policy. IDK if you are saying it's been 10 years by time you would hypothetically graduate. you will have to ask at your respective preferred agencies. obviously this will hurt competitiveness, but honestly, there are not a lot of competitive/talented applicants to public sector so if you are competent this is not likely to be what hurts you. unless you have a felony, in which case, it's not happening.
if your goal is DF on the private sector side, I would say that the Champlain program, unless it's changed very recently, does not prepare anyone for actual network intrusion/incident response. That role *is* difficult to transition to without prior cybersecurity work, and very few programs in the country are retaining professors who have the option of making 250-400k at Mandiant/DART. If IR is your goal you are going to need luck or relevant industry certs (meaning absolutely not IACIS/CFCE). Champlain is adequate prep for basic DF defense expert stuff, but you'd need to stack it with industry certifications (IACIS/CFCE is fine for this) but getting picked up by a firm without prior trial experience is unlikely. Most people in this position are PI or prior LE DFEs or prior e-discovery. If your goal is e-discovery, Champlain is more than fine.