What Do You Need to Study to Become an FBI Agent?

The primary role of an FBI agent is that of an investigator. The investigative priorities of the FBI include counterintelligence, corruption, cyber security, counterterrorism, major theft, violent crimes and white collar crime. The agency's principle goal is to serve the citizens of the United States of America as a national security agency. In 1908, the U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte began what later came to be known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI. The basic requirements for becoming an FBI agent include a bachelor's degree in accounting, criminal justice, cyber crime, information security and computer forensics, or other areas, with three years of work experience.
  1. Criminal Justice

    • The bachelor's degree in criminal justice is a four-year degree program covering criminal justice theory, law and the legal system, the court system, law enforcement corrections, forensics and criminal justice technology. The Department of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at Youngstown University in Ohio offers the Bachelor of Science in applied science in criminal justice and the Bachelor of Science in applied science in forensic science. The degrees are four-year programs dealing with law enforcement and legal processes and the legal, scientific and investigative aspects of forensic science, respectively.

    Computer Forensics

    • The FBI has established computer analysis and response teams in several of its offices. The agents attached to these specialist teams are trained in the examination and analysis of technology crimes that include terrorism, technology, corruption, fraud and organized crime. Utica College in New York offers a Bachelor's degree in cybersecurity -- computer crime and a Master's degree in cybersecurity -- computer forensics. Kaplan University offers an online degree program, culminating in a Bachelor of Science in information systems -- information security and forensics.

    Crime Scene Investigation

    • Specialization in crime scene investigation for an FBI agent role will require a bachelor's degree in science with emphasis in criminal investigation. A background in law enforcement or higher education in science will be a plus. Crime scene investigation includes the processing of a crime scene, gathering evidence, preparing crime reports and testifying in court. Walden University offers online Bachelor of Science degrees in criminal justice with majors in homeland security, crime and criminals, computer information systems and security.

    Critical Foreign Languages

    • To qualify under the FBI language program, the applicant must have a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree in a chosen critical foreign language. The candidate will be tested in reading and writing through a Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) and in a Speaking Proficiency Test (SPT) in the chosen critical language. The current list of qualifying languages in the Federal Bureau of Investigation includes Arabic, Farsi, Chinese, Hindi, Hebrew, Korean, Japanese, Pashtun, Russian, Punjabi, Spanish Urdu and Vietnamese.

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