National Paralegal College

National Paralegal College
Established	2002
Type	For-profit college director = Mark Geller
President	Avi Katz
Location	Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Campus	Distance education
Website	nationalparalegal.edu

National Paralegal College is an online distance learning college offering Paralegal Certifications, Associates, and Bachelors degrees in Legal Studies. It is centrally located in Phoenix, Arizona and is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council. National Paralegal College has not obtained a regional accreditation.

History

The college was founded in 2002 by Director Mark Geller, Esq., founder of Legal Data Systems, Inc. and school President Avi Katz. Its first class was delivered on June 2, 2003. The school introduced a synchronous learning format to online schooling by running a real time audio/visual online platform to deliver instruction. Initially employing only four staff members and serving fewer than ten students at the time of its initial class in 2003, as of January, 2012 National Paralegal College (NPC) employs a large faculty and staff and serves more than 1,000 students.

Mission

The mission of National Paralegal College is to provide quality Internet-based education and training for students seeking careers in the paralegal field. NPC seeks to enable those students whose lifestyles lead them to opt for distance education to obtain comprehensive paralegal training and meet their educational goals without having to compromise on interactivity and academic quality.

Programs Offered

National Paralegal College offers a Paralegal certificate and Associates degree in paralegal studies and a Bachelors degree in legal studies.^[1] All students must satisfy the four core courses, which are Torts & Personal Injury, Contracts, Professional Responsibility & Legal Ethics and Legal Research, Writing & Civil Litigation.

A paralegal certificate requires 24 credits all of which must be earned by taking paralegal courses. An Associate's Degree requires 60 credits, of which at least 36 credits must be earned through paralegal courses. A Bachelor's Degree required 120 credits, of which at least 45 credits must be earned through paralegal courses. Both degrees require that at least 25% of the credits be earned through "general education" courses. NPC offers general education courses in the fields of business, accounting, finance, writing, mathematics, social sciences, etc.^[2]

Transfer Credit Policy

NPC accepts transfer credit in the following amounts:^[3]

- Up to 9 credits towards a paralegal certificate. All must be substantive legal courses that are similar to paralegal courses that NPC offers.

- Up to 36 credits, towards an Associate's Degree. Up to 24 of these can be "general education" credits, while a further 12 can be transferred in if they are substantive legal courses that are similar to paralegal courses that NPC offers.

- Up to 87 credits towards a Bachelor's Degree. Up to 75 of these can be "general education" credits, while a further 12 can be transferred in if they are substantive legal courses that are similar to paralegal courses that NPC offers.

NPC accepts transfer credits from degree granting institutions that are accredited by one or more accrediting agencies recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation^[4] and accepts credits that are recommended by the American Council on Education.^[5]

National Paralegal College has not obtained regional accreditation. Regionally accredited institutions often do not accept credit from nationally accredited institutions.^[6] Because state colleges and universities are regionally accredited, it is important to keep in mind that regionally accredited institutions may not accept the transfer of coursework from this institution should a student decide to transfer.^[7]

Content Delivery

National Paralegal College educational courses are offered via synchronous learning. Each course includes bi-weekly, live, audio-visual classes using the Adobe Connect platform.^[8] In addition, all 100 level NPC paralegal courses utilize custom written online textbooks on a variety of subjects, including torts, contracts, criminal law, constitutional law, wills and estates, domestic relations, etc. These resources are also made available to the public and have been cited by numerous organizations, including the National Association of Catholic Chaplains,^[9] religioustolerance.org^[10] and the Massachusetts Trial Course law libraries website.^[11]

Other content made publicly available includes a series of legal analyses of the news prepared and delivered by National Paralegal College faculty.^[12]

Accreditation and Agreements

• National Paralegal College is accredited by the accrediting commission of the Distance Education and Training Council.
• National Paralegal College is licensed by the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education.^[13]
• National Paralegal College is a member of the National Association of Legal Assistants.^[14]
• National Paralegal College is an associate member of the American Association for Paralegal Education.^[15]
• National Paralegal College's courses are recommended for transfer credit by the National Collegiate Credit Recommendation Service, a division of the University of the State of New York.^[16]
• National Paralegal College is a member of the Higher Education Transfer Alliance (HETA) of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation,^[17] an agreement that facilitates the transfer of academic credits by students between member institutions.^[18]

References

External links

• National Paralegal College website