1. What are the admissions requirements for Scottsdale Community College (SCC)?

    You may enroll at SCC, if you meet any one of the following criteria:

        a. Are a high school graduate or possess a GED.
        b. Are 18 years old or older
        c. Are a transfer student from another college
        d. Are under 18 years of age without a high school diploma or GED but have parental
            and high school advisor permission
        e. Other limited circumstances not covered above - contact Admissions.

2. What is the cost?

    The cost per credit hour depends on your status. The categories are:      

    In addition, there is a $5 per semester registration fee and some courses have materials fees ranging from $2 to $50, depending on the course. Thus the cost of a three credit course, if you are taking less that a total of 7 credits in that semester, is $170 plus a nominal materials fee for Maricopa County residents and $245 plus the materials fee for others.

3. Could you tell me about the SCC Crime Scene Technology Certificate?

    The SCC Crime Scene Technology Certificate Program is part of SCC's Administration of Justice Studies Program. You can get a 16-credit Certificate in Crime Scene Technology by taking six crime scene courses. They are:

        AJS213: Evidence Technology Fingerprints (Classroom Only)
        AJS214: Crime Scene Photography (Classroom Only)
        AJS216: Criminalistics - Biological Evidence (Internet)
        AJS219: Criminalistics - Physical Evidence (Internet)
        AJS290BN: Courtroom Testimony (Internet)
        AJS242: Crime Scene Processing (Taken after you finished AJS213 and 214 and Classroom Only)

     The Crime Scene Technology Certificate prepares you to be a "crime scene technician." These are usually civilian, but sometimes sworn police officer, personnel who go to crime scenes, photograph and sketch them, collect the evidence, and send it to the crime lab.

     The crime scene technician job is different from the job of the people who analyze the evidence in the crime lab (criminalists) and the people who interrogate and track down the criminals (police detectives or federal agents.)

     SCC can prepare you for the crime lab and detective jobs also, although the crime lab job requires a four-year degree involving transfer to a four-year school like ASU. You can also integrate these crime scene courses into a two-year Associates Degree (AAS) in Administration of Justice Studies, which
transfers over to Arizona State University and many other colleges. Most local police departments will hire you as a police officer with a high school diploma or a two-year college degree. You usually need a four-year degree to be a federal agent with the FBI, DEA, etc.

     To get the two-year AAS degree, you take nine additional criminal justice courses on top of the crime scene technology certificate along with other courses in English, reading, communications, math and a lab science for a grand total of about 20 courses (60 credits).

     You can learn about the Crime Scene Technology Program by going to www.sc.maricopa.edu/ajs and clicking on the link called "Crime Scene Technology Certificate." For information on the two-year degree, click the link labeled "Two Year Degree." There are many other links on the site that you might also find helpful.

4. Can students from outside the United States take courses at SCC?

    International students can take some of our online crime scene certificate classes
from home, which include:

           AJS216: Criminalistics - Biological Evidence
           AJS219: Criminalistics - Physical Evidence
           AJS290BN: Courtroom Testimony

    For the remainder of the crime scene courses, you need to come to us. For information on
coming to SCC as an International student, check out our International Education Programs Office at: www.sc.maricopa.edu/ied

You can also email our international student advisor Jennifer Vinca at: jennifer.vinca@sccmail.maricopa.edu

    We are in the process of developing an all-online certificate in Crime Scene Investigation, which, if approved, may be available next year. Its contents are discussed below in question 5.

5. Does SCC offer any all-online certificates?

    Presently no. However, we are in the process of creating a 13-credit all-online certificate in Crime Scene Investigation. If approved, it will consist of the following courses:

        AJS216: Criminalistics - Biological Evidence
        AJS219: Criminalistics - Physical Evidence
        AJS242: Forensic Pathology - Death Investigation
        AJS275: Criminal Investigation
        AJS290BN: Courtroom Testimony

6. I want to be a crime scene technician, should I get a 16 credit crime scene technology certificate or college degree?

    Crime scene technicians go to crime scenes, photograph and sketch them, collect evidence, and drop the evidence off at a crime lab where criminalists analyze the evidence.

    If you want to be a crime scene technician, you can get either the certificate or a college degree but we recommend that you get both. In fact, you can insert the certificate into the degree by using the 16 crime scene technology credits as restricted electives in our 61 credit Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree. Click here for information on the AAS degree. 

7. I want to be a crime lab criminalist who works inside the crime lab analyzing evidence. What courses should I take?

    Crime lab criminalists are more scientists than criminal justice practitioners. Consequently, you need to be a science major and NOT a criminal justice major to work inside a crime lab. However, it is helpful to take some criminal justice courses, but within a forensic science or chemistry major.

    If you are one of the fortunate people who live near or can otherwise attend a four-year college with a true scientific, forensic science program, that is the best way to become a criminalist. However, because few colleges have "real science-based" forensic science programs, many students seeking to become crime lab criminalists become chemistry majors at local colleges and also take a few criminal justice and crime scene courses. In addition, it is also wise to take public speaking, to help in later courtroom testimony.

    Becoming a crime lab criminalist is a grueling academic pursuit. You must take about 8 lab-based chemistry courses and maybe a little biology and physics too. You also need to take a lot of math - at least to pre-calculus. So if you want to go down that path, study hard and back off a bit on social commitments for a while. If you are in a forensic science program that does not have you taking high levels of math and more chemistry that you think a human being can bear, you may not be in a true science-based criminalist program. SCC has a lot of forensic science courses, but when students tell us they want to be crime lab criminalists, we make them chemistry majors and offer them a few criminal justice forensics courses. 

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