Paralegal

Types of Degrees Paralegal Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many legal assistant/paralegal graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	4,575
Undergraduate Certificate	2,203
Basic Certificate	1,659
Bachelor’s Degree	809
Graduate Certificate	356
Master’s Degree	92

What Paralegal Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to paralegal and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Paralegal Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in paralegal should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Paralegal Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to paralegal:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Paralegal Majors

Paralegal majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Can You Do With a Paralegal Major?

People with a paralegal degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Legal Support Workers	3.7%	$58,930
Paralegals and Legal Assistants	14.6%	$50,940
Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers	4.3%	$47,130

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Paralegal?

This major is dominated by women with about 81% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of paralegal majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	17
Black or African American	142
Hispanic or Latino	142
White	419
International Students	8
Other Races/Ethnicities	81

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Paralegal, too. About 1.0% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Paralegal

Some degrees associated with paralegal may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for paralegal careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	21.4%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	9.3%
Some College Courses	0.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	38.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	28.0%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	3.3%

Online Paralegal Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	219	54
Certificate (2-4 Years)	6	0
Associate’s Degree	440	101
Bachelor’s Degree	22	5
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	4	1
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Paralegal

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to paralegal.

Major	Number of Grads
Court Reporting and Captioning	328
Legal Administrative Assistant/Secretary	256
Other Legal Support Services	223
Court Interpreter	3
Scopist	3

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.