At the Center for Professional Education at Boston University, students can enroll in the Professional Investigation Program. This program has online and in-class options. Licensed private investigators teach the course and lecture about the legal dimension to private investigations, utilizing the Internet for research, and the proper ways to interview witnesses or important people. To enroll in the class, students need to submit an application and have a high school diploma or GED. Knowledge of single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras and tape recordings is helpful prior to enrolling in the program.
At the Penn Foster Career School, students can enroll in the Private Investigator program. The program is part of the Legal Studies department at Penn Foster. ION Corporation, a large security and private investigation firm, helps sponsor the program with resources and mentorship opportunities. Students learn a wide array of private investigation skills. Knowledge of how to enact a proper background check and what sources are legitimate to utilize in an investigation are crucial skills a student learns in the Penn Foster program.
The Professional Development Institute at the University of North Texas offers a certificate program in Private Investigation. At North Texas, academics, private investigators and lawyers teach students about every legal and strategic aspect to private investigation. The program mandates that students enroll in 200 hours of live-training courses, where the students work one-on-one with an instructor on the field. The benefit of the program is that certification through North Texas allows a student to immediately take the state licensing exam. Texas requires all degree holding students to work at least three years before the student can take a state license exam. In the North Texas program, as soon as the student receives certification, she can take the Texas state license exam.
The Monroe campus of the University of Louisiana system offers Private Investigation Training in the Continuing Education school. Unlike the other programs, the Monroe campus program is highly intensive, and is usually a week-long program. This is because it is directly attached to the state of Louisiana's private investigation licensee program. On the last day of the program, students can take the state exam. Once they pass it, they are officially Louisiana-licensed private investigators. Since the course work is intensive and directly affiliated with the license exam, students need to be prepared for hours of class work, working with professional investigators learning how to take statements, utilize surveillance equipment, and conduct covert but legal investigations into the background of individuals.