Paralegal Studies, A.A.S. - Degree Plan

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61 - 62 Hrs

General Education Requirements (21 Hours)

Choose one:

Paralegal Course Requirements (34 Hours)

Prerequisite Courses (check catalog):

Recommended First Year Courses:

Recommended Upper-Level Courses:

Note:

Honors and Global Studies courses will meet degree requirements where applicable.

Elective Requirements (6 Hours)

Group A - Paralegal Electives - Choose one:

Group B - Criminal Justice or Child Advocacy Electives - Choose One:

Note:

General education courses fulfilling the paralegal degree plan requirements will be accepted for transfer at NWACC pursuant to the policies and procedures included in the college’s transfer policy.

Transfer of paralegal courses designated as legal specialty courses follow the same transfer policies and procedures as all other courses and will be subject to the following additional program-specific policies and procedures.
Students may transfer legal specialty courses taken at prior institutions, based upon an evaluation by the paralegal program coordinator.
Courses will be accepted if they are either from an ABA-approved paralegal program or are from an accredited college or university in the United States, if they are substantially the same courses in content and learning outcomes as the legal specialty courses at NWACC.
The paralegal program coordinator will review each request for transfer and compare the prior course description to determine if the course meets this transfer criteria.
Students requesting transfer credit may be required to submit course syllabi, assignments, or other information to confirm course content equivalency.
The program does not grant course credit by portfolio or examination.
Transfer students must take a minimum of 12 semester hours of legal specialty courses at NWACC to earn a paralegal degree. In addition, paralegal studies majors must take a minimum of nine semester credits of paralegal specialty courses from the degree plan in a synchronous learning format. This includes traditional in-person instruction or Zoom or Microsoft Teams-like technology in which all students and instructors can interact in real-time. No courses taken in an asynchronous online or web-based format can count towards this the nine credit requirement. Transfer students may be asked to provide evidence that courses were taken in a synchronous format to qualify for transfer.
While some four-year institutions will give credit for the Introduction to Law course, most of the courses do not transfer to a four-year institution. Students should contact those institutions to verify if credit is available.

Possible Placement Requirements

These courses are for developing college level skills.

NWACC strongly recommends that students enroll in English and math preparatory courses within the first two semesters.

These hours will not fulfill any degree requirements at NWACC.