Paralegal, AAS
CIP 220302 (LGA2)
Paralegals (Legal Assistants) play an important role in assisting attorneys to provide affordable legal services.
ACC's American Bar Association – approved Paralegal Program provides a solid foundation of knowledge and practical experience to prepare students for this profession. While paralegals may not practice law, they work under the supervision of attorneys in private law firms or businesses, as well as in many government agencies. Tasks performed by paralegals include interviewing, investigation, research, preparing legal forms, assisting attorneys in court and other activities.
Please contact the Paralegal Department Chair or Coordinator if you have questions about the academic requirements.
ABA Approval
The Paralegal Program has been approved by the American Bar Association since 1977. The approval process ensures that the program complies with the high academic standards of the American Bar Association. For questions about the approval process, the American Bar Association may be reached at 321 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60610, 312-988-5000.
Admission Requirements
- Admission to Arapahoe Community College
- Completion of all general education courses is required before students are allowed to register for paralegal (PAR) courses.
- Students must contact the Program Chair, full-time Faculty member or Program Coordinator for advising and program planning prior to enrolling in any PAR courses. Once this is accomplished students may enroll in PAR classes; enrollment in classes will not be permitted without such Program approval.
- Program approval is required in order to transfer in credit for paralegal classes (PAR) from other institutions; courses may be transferred to the program ONLY if they were taken from an ABA-approved program at a regionally accredited institution, and out-of-state courses may only be transferred in if the law content is not state-specific. A maximum of (nine) semester credit hours of paralegal courses (PAR) may be transferred in to ACC and such courses must be approved by the Paralegal Department Chair.
- The Paralegal Department expects all students in the paralegal program to abide by the code of ethics promulgated by the American Bar Association (ABA) and National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA). The code of ethics may be viewed at www.americanbar.org and www.nala.org
Program Requirements
Students must select additional general education classes from the Guaranteed Transfer (GT) courses as follows:
Choose nine credit hours from the following:
- PAR - Any PAR Elective 3 Credits
Graduation Requirements
- All paralegal and general courses required for the degree must be completed with a grade of "C" or better
- To graduate, students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher
- Students must complete a Paralegal Exit Survey/Interview
- At least 27 (twenty-seven) hours of paralegal (PAR) courses must be taken at Arapahoe Community College
- Paralegal (PAR) courses must be taken within six years of a student's graduation. General education courses are not subject to this six-year requirement
- Apply for graduation online at www.arapahoe.edu/graduation.
- As a graduate of a Career and Technical Education program you will be contacted by an ACC employee in approximately six months to verify your employment information. This information gathering is a federal requirement to ensure that ACC receives certain federal funding.
- Information regarding occupations, completion rates, placement rates, program costs and median loan debt may be found at arapahoe.edu/gainful.