Best Online Digital Forensics Degrees (2027)

Malware Analysis, Mobile Device Analysis and Operating System Analysis make up the core of this degree, and it closes with a Capstone Research Thesis. You take one or two courses per 7-week term while working, and the GRE isn't required. Choose it if you want device and malware depth. Skip it if writing a thesis sounds like a chore.

A cyber competition team and a Virtual Security Lab let you practice beyond assignments, and a Digital Forensics and Cyber Investigation Capstone wraps up the 30 credits. Up to 12 transfer credits can shorten the path, and military students pay $336 per credit. It's a pick for investigators who want a focused specialty, not a broad security survey.

Digital Forensics is one of four specializations inside this 39-credit degree, so you can pair investigation with Ethical Hacking and Pen Testing or Cloud Security electives. Courses last four weeks and use virtual labs. Admission is an advisor interview with no essays or exams. Budget for the $135 course material fee on every course, which sits on top of tuition.

You earn GIAC certifications as you go, and the Incident Response concentration is the closest route to forensic work here. Intrusion Detection In-Depth and NetWars Continuous practice keep it hands-on. Admission requires a current infosec or related role, so it's built for practitioners, not career changers. The $54,000 covers textbooks and certification exams, and you can take 3 to 5 years.

Digital Forensics/Incident Res and Pen Test/Vulnerability Assess are listed among the courses, and an Incident Response concentration lets you lean toward investigation. The degree is assembled from three stackable certificates, then finished with a thesis or capstone, and you can start in fall, spring or summer. Expect an entrance test: a 500 GMAT or upper-half GRE unless you qualify for a waiver.

Only the Cybersecurity track here is fully online. The forensics-focused tracks are partially online, so check that before you plan around the degree's name. You finish with a 3 to 6 credit summer internship or a thesis. New York residents pay $540.38 per credit, and test scores are optional, which helps if you've been out of school a while.

Courses like Windows Forensic Examinations, Windows Intrusion Forensic Investigations and Malware Detection, Analysis, and Prevention put you in tools such as Autopsy and Splunk. Courses run 8 weeks, and up to 15 transfer credits count toward the 36. The application asks for a personal statement about your experience with forensic tools, so total beginners may find the admission step awkward.

You build this degree from certificate tracks: the Cyber Security Analyst track is required, then you add two of Ethical Hacking, Computer Hacking Forensics and Secure Networks. Pick the forensics track and you get an investigation emphasis within an ABET-accredited program. Coursework is asynchronous, and the rate is the same for every state. Expect a pricier 36 credits.

The Digital Forensics and Security Management track, with courses like Cyber Crime, makes this a forensics-leaning pick. A Pre-Capstone proposal course leads into a project for a host organization, with a written report and oral presentation. Coursework is asynchronous, but you need prior programming and calculus or statistics coursework to apply, so it's a stretch for career changers.

A Forensics and Incident Response concentration is available, with Advanced Incident Response, Cyber Threat Intelligence and Penetration Testing among the named courses. Fundamentals for Cyber Security is a self-paced preparatory program for less technical backgrounds. Admission is fall only, a final internship closes the 36 credits, and tuition is $1,377 per credit.

Built for people who want the investigator's side of security. Coursework runs through Malware Forensics, Operating System Forensics and the Law of Searching & Seizing Digital Evidence, then a Digital Forensic Practicum. At $342 a credit (about $41,040 for 120 credits), seven-week terms let you take one to three courses at a time. It's a poor fit if you'd rather break into systems than examine them.

A practical pick for working adults who want forensics as a specialty rather than the whole degree. You earn the cybersecurity B.S. and add a Digital Forensics concentration, with technical labs led by active practitioners. A class starts every eight weeks, and the coursework maps to CISA, CISSP and Security+. At $1,317 a course, the full 120 credits come to roughly $52,680.

If you already hold military or IT training, start here. Norwich accepts up to 90 credits for reviewed training and prior learning, so the 18-month average completion is realistic for experienced students. The Computer Forensics and Vulnerability Management concentration sits beside Hack The Box labs and certifications such as CDSA and CPTS. Expect to buy books separately, and note that nothing here is a dedicated forensics degree.

Choose this one if you want to mix forensics with a second angle. Five concentrations include Digital Forensics, Critical Infrastructure (industrial control and SCADA security) and Privacy and Surveillance, and electives like Cybercrime and Red and Blue Team Security. Courses run eight weeks with a start every month, finishing in the Senior Seminar. At $360 a credit, the total is $43,200, or less with the $250 military rate.

This degree suits students who want a credential employers can verify. It carries ABET accreditation and is described as the only ABET-accredited cybersecurity program delivered fully online. A Digital forensics/incident response concentration is taught by faculty with real cybercrime casework. Admission is stricter than most, with a 3.00 high school GPA, ACT or SAT math minimums and a 750 to 1,000 word essay.

This is the business-flavored route, so it fits someone headed for security management, audit or risk rather than a lab bench. Core courses include Network Security, Intrusion Detection and Incident Response and Cyber Attack and Defend I, and an optional Digital Forensics minor adds Digital Forensic Analysis I. At $525 a credit with no resident discount, it costs more than most public options.

Pick Stevenson if you want to work forensic cases for the government or defense contractors. Graduates receive Digital Forensics Examiner and Digital Media Collector certificates that convert to Department of Defense training credit, and the school holds the DoD Cyber Crime Center's forensics excellence designation. Up to 30 credits can come from prior experience, and only a 2.0 GPA is needed to apply.

Made for people who already have 70 transferable credits and want elite hands-on training instead of general education. You complete 50 credits for $41,650 in about two years, with textbooks and GIAC exam fees included. The Digital Forensics and Incident Response concentration includes Windows Forensic Analysis and prepares you for GCFE. There are no fixed starts, so you can apply by the 15th of any month.

A fit for adults who need a flexible schedule and a path into graduate forensics. Monthly starts, a Digital Forensics concentration and a capstone project come standard. The standout is the transition option, which lets you take two graduate forensic science electives toward the bachelor's, then continue to the master's. The trade-off is price, with the school estimating $69,000 total over a 60-month finish.

Look here if you want forensics paired with intelligence analysis rather than system administration. The Digital Forensics Specialization sits alongside open-source intelligence and AI training, and past students have interned with Homeland Security, Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories. Tuition is $373.80 a credit. Three starts a year are fewer than at most schools, so plan your timing.

Pick this if forensics is the goal and you want it built into an associate degree. You choose a Digital Forensics concentration, finish with the one-credit CYB 270 Cyber Capstone, and the coursework points toward Security+, Network+ and the Magnet Certified Forensic Examiner exam. The school was the first named a digital forensics center of excellence by DC3. Expect some proctored exams at a testing center.

This one suits someone who wants a hands-on security base before specializing in forensics. The 60 credits run in 7-week sessions, with courses on firewalls, intrusion detection and Advanced Linux Administration, plus faculty guidance toward Security+, Linux+ and CCNA. Class times can be live or self-paced. It reads as a defense-first degree, so look elsewhere for deep evidence-handling coursework.

Herkimer puts forensics in the degree title and the course list: Understanding & Managing Cybercrime, Computer Forensics & Investigations, and Advanced Computer Forensics and Investigations, then a 3-credit capstone. Faculty describe the cyber courses as 95 percent hands-on. It fits career changers, since adults may qualify for free tuition through SUNY Reconnect. Plan on 64 credits and a $50 cybersecurity fee each semester.