New Program At Local University Weaves 3 Disciplines In 1

By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Forensic accounting, that is – finding out if someone is cooking the books, and how – has gone high tech and a new LaSalle University Master’s Degree program plugs students in.

It’s an M.S. program in Economic Crime Forensics and its director, Peggy McCoey, says it’s interdisciplinary, weaving accounting, criminal justice and computer science together.

“It actually has two tracks. One is more geared for people with a corporate background, looking to stop fraudulent activity. There’s also another track in network security, and this would be more geared toward people interested in learning ways to secure the network infrastructure,” McCoey explains.

McCoey says a lot of the course work is online, so students are confronted with the same kinds of computer logs they’d actually face as forensic investigators, and learn by discovering patterns in their coursework consistent with fraud.

Security strategies and data mining are also covered because it’s a whole new world for fraud online.