The Council of Forensic Science Educators was formed in the 1990s by professors teaching in undergraduate and graduate forensic science programs at private and public colleges and universities. Their goal was to achieve the highest academic standards for their respective programs and to develop excellence in programming to educate students seeking careers in the forensic science discipline.

Recently there has been a marked increase in the number of forensic science programs at colleges and universities. Many programs have been established despite very limited resources, insufficient personnel, lab space, and support for these programs. Students completing these programs expect to find employment in crime labs but are surprised to learn that lab management is not impressed by the curriculum.

Forensic science is a unique scientific discipline requiring its practitioners to have in addition to technical skills and knowledge, also critical, analytical thinking skills, communication skills and an ethical awareness of the role of the scientist in our criminal justice system. A complete educational program should therefore create forensic science professionals. COFSE encompasses forensic science educators who are dedicated to achieving the following objectives:

1. To encourage the exchange of ideas and information regarding academic programs in the laboratory based forensic sciences and the discussion of problems of common interest,
2. To work collectively toward the coordination and upgrading of academic forensic science programs,
3. To promote constructive integration of formal academic training with postgraduate preparation for professional practice,
4. To foster friendship, cooperation and synergism among academic forensic scientists, practicing professionals, and laboratory management,
5. To encourage research and the advancement of knowledge benefiting forensic science, and
6. To pursue other objectives appropriate to the advancement of forensic science education.

The Council’s annual meeting coincides with the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

• Read the COFSE Bylaws
• Current Executive Board members
• General inquiries can be directed to cofse.ed@gmail.com
• COFSE members can login to view to our Member Resources page

COFSE’s Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – February 2025

We are reaching out to our membership to let you all know that we recognize the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies in our organization. We believe that COFSE’s capacity to reflect and respond to the rich diversity of our students profoundly impacts the ability to fulfill our mission.

Thus, COFSE continues to be committed to fostering an environment whereby we can all learn from one another in order to provide dedicated individuals the skills necessary to lead and teach future forensic scientists.

We believe that our forensic science education community thrives when we consider, acknowledge, and honor our diversity.

We are all in this together.