Why is there a dynamic forensics program at The answers to that
question started in 1997 when several criminal justice students
from the FBI asked why the college did not have a forensics
program. In response, PGCC conducted a needs survey by
contacting the municipal, county, state, and federal law
enforcement and forensic science laboratory departments in
Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia.
This survey indicated a critical need of 350 forensic
scientists, from crime scene investigators to forensic science
specialists. PGCC started an Associate of Applied Science degree
in Forensic Science in 1999. This program is a 2-year career-
tracked vocation for those students electing not to obtain a
baccalaureate degree from a 4-year academic institution.
However, the continued demand for baccalaureate-trained forensic
science investigators prompted us to establish in 2001 an
Associate of Science curriculum for students who wished to
transfer to colleges that offered undergraduate degrees in