Fraud prevention specialist education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a fraud prevention specialist. Fraud prevention specialists usually study business, criminal justice, or psychology. 44% of fraud prevention specialists hold a bachelor's degree, and 23% hold an high school diploma. We analyzed 1,261 real fraud prevention specialist resumes to see exactly what fraud prevention specialist education sections show.

The most common colleges for fraud prevention specialists are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

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

What education do you need to become a fraud prevention specialist?

What degree do you need to be a fraud prevention specialist?

The most common degree for fraud prevention specialists is bachelor's degree, with 44% of fraud prevention specialists earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are high school diploma degree at 23% and high school diploma degree at 21%.

Bachelor's, 44%

High School Diploma, 23%

Associate, 21%

Diploma, 4%

Other Degrees, 8%

What should I major in to become a fraud prevention specialist?

You should major in business to become a fraud prevention specialist. 27% of fraud prevention specialists major in business. Other common majors for a fraud prevention specialist include criminal justice and psychology.

Business, 27%

Criminal Justice, 17%

Psychology, 7%

General Studies, 6%

Other Majors, 43%

Most common colleges for fraud prevention specialists

Fraud prevention specialists often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, Austin Community College, and Arizona State University. Here are the most common colleges for fraud prevention specialists in the US based on their resumes.

Fraud prevention specialist common college	Percentages
University of Phoenix	17.24%
Austin Community College	11.21%
Arizona State University	7.76%
DeVry University	6.90%
Texas State University	6.03%

Show more common fraud prevention specialist colleges

Best majors for fraud prevention specialists

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	27.1%
2	Criminal Justice	16.9%
3	Psychology	7.2%
4	General Studies	5.6%
5	Accounting	4.9%

Show more common fraud prevention specialist majors

Best colleges for fraud prevention specialists

The best colleges for fraud prevention specialists are Boston University, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

A fraud prevention specialist with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for fraud prevention specialists. 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 fraud prevention specialists.

1. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

2. University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Lincoln, NE • Private

In-state tuition

$9,242

Enrollment

20,592

3. Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green, OH • Private

In-state tuition

$11,105

Enrollment

13,729

4. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

5. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$9,816

Enrollment

21,047

6. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

7. University of New Haven

West Haven, CT • Private

In-state tuition

$39,270

Enrollment

5,041

8. University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh

Oshkosh, WI • Private

In-state tuition

$7,621

Enrollment

10,749

9. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

10. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

20 best online courses for fraud prevention specialists

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. 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...

4. Risk, Payments and Fraud

4.6

(1,052)

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

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

4.5

(2,334)

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

7. 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...

8. Financial Accounting-Debits & Credits-Accounting Transaction

4.5

(781)

Masterclass: Learn Accounting Principles, Financial Statements, Transactions & More in this Comprehensive Course...

9. 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...

10. FATF Recommendations on High Risk Customers and Activities

4.5

(1,310)

Overview of FATF Recommendations on AML/ CFT for High Risk Customers and Activities PEPs and Correspondent Relationships...

11. Financial Accounting: The Complete Introductory Crash Course

4.5

(1,604)

Learn the Basics of Financial Accounting: Financial Statements, Debits and Credits, The Accounting Cycle and More!...

12. Financial Accounting-Adjusting Entries & Financial Statement

4.6

(930)

Master Adjusting Entries & Financial Statements: A Comprehensive Guide for Accurate Accounting and Reporting...

13. Financial Crime: Processes & Technology - Masterclass

4.6

(251)

Develop practitioner level skills in AML, CTF, KYC, PEP, Identity, Sanctions and Fraud processes and technology...

14. Preventing and Surviving an Active Shooter Incident

4.5

(4,367)

Active Shooter/Violent Intruder Prevention and Response...

15. Payment Risk 101

4.5

(752)

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

16. Financial Accounting & Excel-Comprehensive Accounting Course

4.3

(736)

Comprehensive accounting course to learn the accounting cycle in a practical way and pick up critical Excel fundamentals...

17. Principles of Financial Accounting

4.5

(875)

Learn the complete accounting cycle -recording business transactions to presenting the Balance Sheet & Income Statement...

18. 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!...

19. Accounting Made Easy: A Quick Guide to Financial Accounting

4.5

(2,757)

Accounting is not about Math, it is about concepts. And no one said it has to be hard. Learn the basics in just 2 hours!...

20. Financial Accounting: A Comprehensive Guide with E-book

4.5

(3,466)

Unlock Financial Accounting Mastery: Comprehensive Course for Students, Professionals, and Business Owners...

Top 10 most affordable universities for fraud prevention specialists

The most affordable schools for fraud prevention specialists are California State University - Bakersfield, suny farmingdale, and california state university - los angeles.

If the best universities for fraud prevention specialists 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 fraud prevention specialists.

1. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

2. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

3. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

4. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

5. USF Sarasota-Manatee

Sarasota, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,587

Cost of attendance

13,043

6. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

7. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

8. SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Utica, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,238

Cost of attendance

21,567

9. John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,270

Cost of attendance

14,177

10. Minot State University

Minot, ND • Private

In-state tuition

$7,064

Cost of attendance

15,576

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for fraud prevention specialists

The hardest universities for fraud prevention specialists to get into are Boston University, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

Some great schools for fraud prevention specialists 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 fraud prevention specialists 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. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,497

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,508

4. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

Admissions rate

40%

SAT average

1,376

5. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, CA • Private

Admissions rate

30%

SAT average

1,339

6. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

42%

SAT average

1,380

7. Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY • Private

Admissions rate

50%

SAT average

1,284

8. University of Denver

Denver, CO • Private

Admissions rate

56%

SAT average

1,300

9. University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, MD • Private

Admissions rate

47%

SAT average

1,390

10. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

Admissions rate

42%

SAT average

1,326

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for fraud prevention specialists

The easiest schools for fraud prevention specialists to get into are Notre Dame College, holy family university, and nyack college.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a fraud prevention specialist 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 fraud prevention specialists.

1. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

2. Holy Family University

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

72%

SAT average

1,017

3. Nyack College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

999

4. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

5. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

6. Curry College

Milton, MA • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,026

7. Presentation College

Aberdeen, SD • Private

Admissions rate

97%

SAT average

1,050

8. University of North Texas at Dallas

Dallas, TX • Private

Admissions rate

83%

SAT average

992

9. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

10. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

Average fraud prevention specialist salary by education level

According to our data, fraud prevention specialists with a Associate degree earn the highest average salary, at $39,981 annually. Fraud prevention specialists with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual salary of $39,381.

Fraud prevention specialist education level	Fraud prevention specialist salary
High School Diploma or Less	$36,397
Bachelor's Degree	$39,381
Some College/ Associate Degree	$39,981

Fraud prevention specialist education FAQs

What is the best college for Fraud Prevention Specialists?

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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

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