University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies

About University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies

The University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies is an independent public higher-education institution serving a defined professional field rather than a broad comprehensive university. The Serbian government adopted its founding decision in 2014, naming it the legal successor of the Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies. After accreditation and licensing requirements were completed, the change of organizational form was registered in December 2018. The predecessor academy had itself been created in 2006 from the Advanced School of Internal Affairs and the Police Academy, so the institution combines a recent university structure with a longer police-education lineage. The university is organized around departments of Criminal Investigation, Forensic Engineering, and Informatics and Computing. Its role extends beyond teaching to research and professional development relevant to policing and security. Current institutional activity is evidenced by accreditation decisions through 2025, a university accreditation page updated in 2026, active examinations and student services, and completed admissions activity for 2026/2027. Prospective students should understand the institution’s close relationship with Serbia’s Ministry of Interior. Undergraduate selection is designed for police-education needs, and state-funded undergraduates sign an agreement governing their mutual rights and obligations with the ministry. This makes the university particularly relevant to applicants seeking structured preparation for criminal-investigation, policing, forensic, information-security, or related public-safety work. It is less suitable for students wanting broad freedom to explore unrelated disciplines or for most international applicants seeking ordinary open undergraduate admission.

For 2026/2027 first-year undergraduate admission, applications were accepted from 1 April through 30 April 2026 and are now closed. The competition was limited to Serbian citizens who had completed a four-year secondary education and had maintained registered residence in Serbia for at least one continuous year before applying. These rules mean that the published undergraduate route was not a standard international-admissions pathway. Every applicant also had to satisfy security conditions applicable to Ministry of Interior employment, together with medical, morphological, psychological, and aptitude requirements. Medical screening, psychological assessment, and drug testing were completed at the applicant’s expense. The competition specified minimum heights of 170 centimeters for male candidates and 163 centimeters for female candidates, together with stated weight tolerances. Candidates should read the full current competition because these are eligibility conditions, not merely selection preferences. Ranking combined secondary-school performance, worth 16 to 40 points, with program-specific tests worth up to 60 points. Candidates needed at least 51 total points to enter a ranking list. Criminal Investigation applicants took motor-ability, general-knowledge, and Serbian language and literature tests; a low motor-test result was eliminatory. Forensic Engineering used mathematics and chemistry, while Informatics and Computing used mathematics and informatics. The university offered 80 academic Criminal Investigation, 15 vocational Criminal Investigation, 10 Forensic Engineering, and 15 Informatics and Computing places. Future applicants must use the competition for their own entry year rather than assuming that 2026 dates or quotas will repeat.

The academic portfolio spans all three degree levels recognized in this profile. At undergraduate level, the university’s 2026/2027 competition covered four programs: academic Criminal Investigation, vocational Criminal Investigation, academic Forensic Engineering, and academic Informatics and Computing. The vocational criminal-investigation course is a three-year first-cycle program, while the three academic bachelor’s programs run for four years. The latter include subject-specific preparation in policing and criminalistics, laboratory-oriented forensic work, or computing and information systems. At second-cycle level, the university lists master’s programs in Criminal Investigation, Forensic Engineering, Informatics and Computing, and Security Risk Management, as well as specialist academic studies. Doctoral study is listed in Criminal Investigation, Forensic Engineering, and Informatics. Applicants should consult the current competition for their intended level because entry qualifications, security conditions, available places, and financing arrangements differ between undergraduate, master’s, specialist, and doctoral admission. The educational model is professionally focused. Criminal-investigation applicants are assessed partly through motor ability, general knowledge, and Serbian language and literature. Forensic Engineering applicants take mathematics and chemistry tests, while Informatics and Computing applicants take mathematics and informatics. The university also supports research through its institutional repository and specialist journals. Its library collection emphasizes legal, police-security, criminal-investigation, computing, and forensic subjects, giving students a subject-focused resource base rather than the disciplinary breadth of a large comprehensive university.

Key Highlights

• Independent Serbian public university specializing in police, criminal-investigation, forensic, computing, and security education
• Government founding decision dates to 2014; transformation from the predecessor academy was registered in 2018
• Three principal departments: Criminal Investigation, Forensic Engineering, and Informatics and Computing
• Current accreditation and 2026/2027 enrollment activity confirm continued operation

Student Life & Environment

Student life is shaped by the university’s compact size, specialist mission, and professional expectations. The official student portal provides timetables, examination schedules, consultation information, e-learning, and an e-Student system. A Student Parliament represents the student body, while listed subject-based sections include criminal investigation, polymer forensics, emergency situations, and genetics. These activities offer a route to explore specialist topics outside formal classes, although current schedules and activity levels should be confirmed directly with the university. The library is a significant academic resource for this particular field. As of its August 2025 update, it reported approximately 41,000 Serbian and international publications, with holdings in law, police and security studies, criminal investigation, informatics, and forensic science. Students also have access to the JAKOV digital repository, the Serbian COBISS library network, textbooks, journals, reference works, and specialist historical collections. The university participates in Erasmus-related activity and lists mobility guidance and a buddy-support system. However, the ordinary 2026/2027 undergraduate competition was restricted to Serbian citizens meeting a residency condition, so exchange mobility should not be confused with open international degree admission. No current official evidence of university-operated residence halls or a guaranteed housing placement was found. Students who need accommodation should obtain current guidance before committing and should budget for housing separately unless the university confirms another arrangement.

Location & Surroundings

The university is located at 196 Cara Dušana Street in Zemun, an urban municipality of Belgrade. Official institutional pages use both Belgrade and Zemun in the address; these are consistent because Zemun forms part of Serbia’s capital. Students therefore study in a metropolitan setting while being based outside Belgrade’s central historic districts. Zemun has its own recognizable local character, including an older town center and a Danube riverfront. The Tourist Organization of Belgrade highlights the area’s promenade, Gardoš, cultural monuments, restaurants, and public-transport connections. Belgrade’s city transport network includes buses, trams, trolleybuses, and urban rail, although students should check current routes and journey times for the Cara Dušana campus rather than assuming that central Belgrade destinations are within walking distance. The setting may suit students who want access to the services and cultural life of a national capital without studying in its busiest center. It also places the university within reach of national government, police, security, scientific, and technical organizations relevant to its specialist mission. Housing availability, commute length, and transport connections should be checked individually because the university does not publish a current general guarantee of campus accommodation.

Costs & Career Outcomes

All 120 undergraduate places advertised for 2026/2027 were state-funded, so the official competition did not quote ordinary tuition for that intake. State-funded undergraduates sign an agreement with Serbia’s Ministry of Interior defining mutual rights and obligations. Applicants should obtain and review the current agreement before enrollment because state funding should not be interpreted as having no conditions. Application-related costs still applied. In 2026, the administrative charge was RSD 5,000 for one program, RSD 6,500 for two, RSD 7,500 for three, or RSD 8,500 for all four. Candidates also paid for the required medical, morphological, psychological, and drug-screening procedures. Current housing, meals, transport, books, and personal-equipment costs were not stated in the undergraduate competition, and no verified current university residence price was found. Applicants should therefore request a full personal cost estimate directly from the university and avoid relying on older published fee schedules. Graduate tuition and financing are governed by separate level-specific competitions. The curriculum is designed for work connected with policing, criminal investigation, forensic practice, computing, information protection, and wider security functions. The university states that graduates who sign the relevant Ministry of Interior agreement are provided employment in the ministry subject to the agreement’s conditions. This should not be generalized into an unconditional job guarantee for every student or every program. No current official graduate salary, placement rate, or time-to-employment statistic was found, so prospective students should ask how the agreement applies to their intended course and cohort.