Students Clue into Forensic Science

By Laura Parker

Outside Hollywood, the work of a crime lab technician is known for two things: tedium and less-than-lucrative pay. Yet, thanks in part to an abundance of TV crime lab dramas, the field of forensic science is one of the hottest new majors on college campuses.

At West Virginia University, with one of the largest programs, forensic science ranks second in popularity to Spanish.

This fall, the anthropology department at Eastern New Mexico University joins colleges in Texas, Nebraska, Montana and New York in adding forensic science as a major.

Since the new major was announced at Eastern New Mexico, "my phone has been ringing off the hook," says Kathy Durand, chairwoman of the anthropology department.

More than 130 forensics programs are being taught at colleges and universities across the USA, although only 16 programs at 14 universities are accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, says Jim Hurley, director of accreditation. He expects the number to rise as more programs adopt the rigid science course work required.

Although no one seems to know why, the field is increasingly dominated by women. At Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 90% of the forensic science students are female.

At Metropolitan State College in Denver, which is one of the smallest programs, 13 of 15 students are women.

"I don’t know why," says Charles Tindall, who directs Metropolitan’s forensic science program. "When you ask them, they say: ‘I’ve always wanted to do this.’ Like they were born to it. None of them will say they watch CSI."

Starting pay for beginning forensic scientists averages $35,000-$45,000 a year, according to industry estimates.

Durand sold the idea of a forensics major to colleagues last December, after the Albuquerque Journal published several investigative stories detailing a 10-year backlog of cases awaiting DNA analysis in the state crime lab.

The stories prompted New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to ask legislators to increase the lab’s budget by $751,000 and approve construction of a $350 million lab.

"Labs are really struggling. Prosecutors are having problems," Durand says.

The study of forensic science has only recently bloomed, largely as a result of expansion of DNA analysis as an investigative tool and the televising of big trials. Before 1980, when Jay Siegel set up one of the first programs at Michigan State University, "there were just a handful of people who could even tell you what forensic science was," he says.

By the time of O.J. Simpson’s trial in 1995, the field had "exploded," Siegel says. "I’ve been waiting for the boom to level off and it hasn’t."

Since the forensic science program launched in 2002 at West Virginia University, it has grown to 500 students from 35 countries, Director Keith Morris says.

Despite all that appeal, many of the programs have high dropout rates, Siegel says.

"We have a number of students who come in each year thinking they’re going to crime scenes in Hummers and Armani suits and then find out there’s a lot of science involved here," he says.