Certified fraud examiner education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a certified fraud examiner. Certified fraud examiners usually study accounting, business, or criminal justice. 51% of certified fraud examiners hold a bachelor's degree, and 21% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 180 real certified fraud examiner resumes to see exactly what certified fraud examiner education sections show.

The most common colleges for certified fraud examiners are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online certified fraud examiner courses to help get the education required to be a certified fraud examiner.

What education do you need to become a certified fraud examiner?

What degree do you need to be a certified fraud examiner?

The most common degree for certified fraud examiners is bachelor's degree, with 51% of certified fraud examiners earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 21% and master's degree degree at 16%.

Bachelor's, 51%

Master's, 21%

Associate, 16%

Doctorate, 4%

Other Degrees, 8%

What should I major in to become a certified fraud examiner?

You should major in accounting to become a certified fraud examiner. 23% of certified fraud examiners major in accounting. Other common majors for a certified fraud examiner include business and criminal justice.

Accounting, 23%

Business, 17%

Criminal Justice, 14%

Nursing, 12%

Other Majors, 34%

Most common colleges for certified fraud examiners

Certified fraud examiners often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and San Francisco State University. Here are the most common colleges for certified fraud examiners in the US based on their resumes.

Certified fraud examiner common college	Percentages
University of Phoenix	9.38%
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey	6.25%
San Francisco State University	6.25%
University of the District of Columbia	6.25%
University of Washington	6.25%

Show more common certified fraud examiner colleges

Best majors for certified fraud examiners

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Accounting	22.5%
2	Business	16.7%
3	Criminal Justice	13.7%
4	Nursing	11.8%
5	Sociology	3.9%

Show more common certified fraud examiner majors

Best colleges for certified fraud examiners

The best colleges for certified fraud examiners are George Washington University, The, Boston College, and SUNY at Binghamton.

A certified fraud examiner with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for certified fraud examiners. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become certified fraud examiners.

1. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

2. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

3. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Enrollment

9,394

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

6. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-state tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

7. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

8. SUNY College at Plattsburgh

Plattsburgh, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,369

Enrollment

5,229

9. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

In-state tuition

$55,230

Enrollment

12,161

10. SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Utica, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,238

Enrollment

2,120

20 best online courses for certified fraud examiners

Advertising disclosure

1. Fraud Detection on Financial Transactions with Machine Learning on Google Cloud

This is a self-paced lab that takes place in the Google Cloud console. Explore financial transactions data for fraud analysis, apply feature engineering and machine learning techniques to detect fraudulent activities using BigQuery ML...

2. Forensic accounting, fraud investigation and fraud analytics

4.3

(657)

The 14 hour course(50casestudies) helps to understand fraud examination, forensic audit,financial crime, data analytics...

3. Forensic Accounting: Fraud Investigation! (Course 1 of 4)

4.5

(2,334)

Fraud Examination, Fraud Prevention, Fraud Detection, and Fraud Correction...

4. Audit - Financial Statement

4.4

(2,545)

Master the Art of Auditing Financial Statements: In-Depth Analysis, Techniques, and Real-World Case Studies...

5. Fraud Risk Analytics (Excel & AI based tools) and Prevention

4.4

(820)

Detect & Prevent Fraud Smartly Assess your company's maturity to manage fraud...

6. Financial Statement Analysis

4.7

(255)

Learn how to make understanding financial statements your superpower!...

7. Financial Statement Analysis - Ratio Analysis

4.3

(1,189)

Master the Art of Financial Statement Analysis: Unlocking Insights through Vertical, Horizontal, and Ratio Analysis...

8. Financial Statement Auditing Cycles

4.3

(251)

In this course, we learn how public accountants plan and execute an audit...

9. Risk, Payments and Fraud

4.6

(1,052)

How to detect and prevent fraud in your online business...

10. Build Powerful Compliance Programs & Prevent Corporate Fraud

4.4

(289)

Learn everything you need to know to build an effective and powerful compliance culture and prevent corporate fraud...

11. Fraud Prevention, Dispute Resolution and PCI-DSS Masterclass

4.4

(827)

The fundamentals of fraud prevention and monitoring + dispute resolution + PCI-DSS requirements - now in one course...

12. Financial Statements Analysis for absolute beginners

4.3

(314)

Understand Financial Statements and Analyze Financial Statements for Business and Financial Analysis...

13. Payment Risk 101

4.5

(752)

Learn the Payment 101, Payment Risk and Fraud 101. Learn common methods and prevention...

14. Financial Reporting & Analysis: Complete Preparation

4.5

(1,533)

Learn to Read, Understand, and Analyse the Financial Statements of a Company...

15. Accounting & Financial Statement Analysis: Complete Training

4.6

(16,804)

Accounting & Financial Ratio Analysis made easy. Learn important accounting skills that will get your foot in the door!...

16. Value Investing: The Complete Financial Statement Analysis

4.3

(988)

Value Investing Mastery - How to Perform Financial Statement Analysis & Financial Ratio Analysis to Find Great Stocks...

17. Criminal Law in 120 Minutes: A Fast Track Course

4.6

(414)

A 2 hour fast track summary of Criminal Law, targeting all common law LL.B examinations!...

18. Real-time Credit card Fraud Detection using Spark 2.2

4.4

(706)

Real time Credit card Fraud detection using Spark Streaming, Spark ML, Kafka, Cassandra and Airflow...

19. Financial Statement Analysis - Master the Financial Stmts!

4.6

(330)

Gain a comprehensive knowledge of the 3 financial statements and how to make them tell you a story...

20. Tesla Company Analysis: Strategy, Marketing, Financials

4.7

(838)

Acquire the #1 Skill Needed For Investment banking, Private equity, and Consulting - Company analysis...

Top 10 most affordable universities for certified fraud examiners

The most affordable schools for certified fraud examiners are SUNY Farmingdale, california state university - dominguez hills, and california state university - bakersfield.

If the best universities for certified fraud examiners are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for certified fraud examiners.

1. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

2. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

3. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

4. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

5. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

6. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

7. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

8. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

9. Minot State University

Minot, ND • Private

In-state tuition

$7,064

Cost of attendance

15,576

10. USF Sarasota-Manatee

Sarasota, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,587

Cost of attendance

13,043

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for certified fraud examiners

The hardest universities for certified fraud examiners to get into are George Washington University, The, Boston College, and SUNY at Binghamton.

Some great schools for certified fraud examiners are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for certified fraud examiners based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

42%

SAT average

1,380

2. Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA • Private

Admissions rate

28%

SAT average

1,429

3. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

Admissions rate

40%

SAT average

1,376

4. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

5. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

19%

SAT average

1,466

6. University of Tulsa

Tulsa, OK • Private

Admissions rate

41%

SAT average

1,321

7. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,492

8. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

9. Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY • Private

Admissions rate

50%

SAT average

1,284

10. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for certified fraud examiners

The easiest schools for certified fraud examiners to get into are Gwynedd Mercy University, curry college, and nyack college.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a certified fraud examiner without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for certified fraud examiners.

1. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

2. Curry College

Milton, MA • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,026

3. Nyack College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

999

4. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

5. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

6. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

7. La Roche College

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions rate

99%

SAT average

1,008

8. Ottawa University

Ottawa, KS • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,024

9. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Standish, ME • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,069

10. Holy Family University

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

72%

SAT average

1,017

Average certified fraud examiner salary by education level

Certified fraud examiners with a Master's degree earn more than those without, at $83,111 annually. With a Bachelor's degree, certified fraud examiners earn a median annual income of $70,434 compared to $60,768 for certified fraud examiners with an Associate degree.

Certified fraud examiner education level	Certified fraud examiner salary
Master's Degree	$83,111
Bachelor's Degree	$70,434
Some College/ Associate Degree	$60,768

Certified fraud examiner education FAQs

What is the best college for Certified Fraud Examiners?

Have more questions? See all answers to common business and financial questions.

Search for certified fraud examiner jobs

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse business and financial jobs