Pasadena City College ranks first among 72 ABA-approved paralegal certificate programs, at $1,180 a year for a resident of its state.
The ranking scores tuition and fees (40%), graduation rate (30%), paralegal graduates (30%), from federal data.
58 of the 72 are in states with a ranking of their own, where each is ranked again against its neighbors.
33 of them can be finished at least partly online; the online ranking scores those on the out-of-state price.
Certificates for people who already hold a bachelor's degree are compared on published prices rather than ranked, as are the 20 approved programs with no paralegal awards in the federal data, most of them at university extension divisions.
Every program ranked here is on the ABA's list of approved paralegal programs and conferred an undergraduate
paralegal certificate in the 2023-24 federal record, most of them at community colleges. The tuition scored is a
full-time year at the in-state price, the figure for a resident of the school's own state; a student from another
state pays more, and the online ranking scores that
figure instead.
Each factor is scored by percentile among the programs ranked at the same award level, so a program at the middle of its field on tuition scores 5 of 10 on that factor. The three factor scores are combined by weight into a score out of 100. How the scores work.
The Best Paralegal Certificate Programs
The top 10 have a card each, with the program as its school describes it; the table continues the ranking to
the 25th. Tuition is a full-time year of in-state tuition and fees.
Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California offers its ABA-approved Paralegal Studies program, which PCC says the ABA has approved continuously since 1995, as an Associate in Science and a Certificate of Achievement built on the same 32 units of paralegal core courses, which students can take fully online, by Zoom or in person.
San Diego Miramar College in San Diego, California offers its ABA-approved Paralegal program as a 30-unit Certificate of Achievement for students who already have a college degree and as a 60-unit Associate of Science, both built on 21 units of core paralegal courses and 9 units of paralegal electives.
De Anza College in Cupertino, California offers its ABA-approved Paralegal Studies program as a 48-unit Certificate of Achievement-Advanced and a 90-unit Associate in Arts, both built on the same 48 quarter units of paralegal coursework, and the college says the ABA first approved the program in 1993.
College of the Canyons teaches its ABA-approved paralegal courses fully online in the evening, through live Zoom classes and Canvas, and the same 31 units lead to an AA or, for students who already hold a degree, a certificate.
Santa Ana College's Bachelor of Arts in Paralegal Studies, which enrolled its first class in fall 2025, is described by the college as the first ABA-approved baccalaureate-level paralegal program at any public institution in California.
Irvine Valley College in Irvine, California runs its ABA-approved paralegal program as Law and Paralegal Studies, with a 28.5-unit Certificate of Achievement awarded to students who already hold an associate or bachelor's degree or who complete a 60-unit associate degree, and an associate degree whose graduates receive both awards.
El Camino College in Torrance, California offers its ABA-approved Paralegal Studies program as a 60-unit Associate in Arts and as an 11-course, 33 to 35-unit Certificate of Achievement for students who have already earned a college degree, with law courses offered in on-ground, hybrid, hyflex and online formats and most available in the evening.
West Valley College's paralegal program, which the college says has held ABA approval since 1996, requires every student to complete an internship in a law office with an approved employer of the student's choosing, and degree holders can finish its 35-unit certificate in three full-time semesters.
American River College teaches the same 30 units of ABA-approved legal specialty coursework through either an A.A. for students without a degree or a one-year certificate for students who already hold an A.A. or higher.
Key Program Details
A.A.: at least 60 units, 48 of them program units
Certificate: 30 units, a one-year course of study
Same 30 units of legal specialty courses on both paths
At least 9 units of synchronous legal specialty instruction
Up to 9 transfer units from an ABA-approved program
$46 per semester credit
Read more
Both paths require 30 units of paralegal (PLGL) courses: introduction to law, civil procedure and litigation, torts and personal injury, contract law, legal research, legal writing and law office management, plus at least 9 units of electives such as advanced legal research and writing, law and motion practice, family law, criminal law, immigration law, evidence, legal technology, estate planning, bankruptcy or work experience in legal assisting. At least 9 units of legal specialty coursework must be completed through synchronous instruction. The A.A. adds 18 units of ABA breadth courses from at least three areas of the Cal-GETC pattern, plus general education and electives, for a total of at least 60 units.
Students who have not yet earned an associate degree must follow the A.A. path; students who already hold an A.A. or higher from a regionally accredited institution can take the certificate. Before enrolling in paralegal classes, every student must have passed a college composition course equivalent to ENGL C1000 (or hold an A.A. or higher), and Introduction to Law must be taken in the first semester of paralegal coursework. Up to 9 units of legal specialty coursework may transfer in from an ABA-approved program. The college notes that its separate Law Office Clerical Assistant Certificate is not ABA-approved and does not prepare students to work as paralegals.
Fullerton College in Fullerton, California awards its 33-unit ABA-approved Paralegal Studies Certificate only to students who already hold an associate or bachelor's degree, and the program says its classes are typically offered on weekday evenings.
Key Program Details
Certificate: 33 units, for associate or bachelor's degree holders
Associate in Science: 30 units in the major, at least 60 in all
Classes are typically offered on weekday evenings
The Paralegal Internship elective requires 54 hours of unpaid, supervised internship per unit
All 24 units of required courses are taken at Fullerton College
$46 per semester credit
Read more
The certificate requires 33 units: 24 units of required courses (Introduction to Paralegal Studies, Introduction to Legal Research and Terminology, Introduction to Legal Writing, Law Office Technology, Civil Litigation I and II, Ethics for Paralegals, and Advanced Legal Research and Writing) and 9 units of restricted electives, chosen from courses such as Tort Law, Family Law, Probate, Wills and Trusts, Bankruptcy Law and Procedure, Criminal Law and Procedure, and a Paralegal Internship. The Paralegal Studies Associate in Science takes the same required courses plus 6 units of restricted electives (30 units in the major), the program's own 22-unit general education pattern, and enough other units to reach at least 60. The program information sheet says classes are typically offered on weekday evenings, and its projected course rotation lists courses under night, Saturday and online columns, with online courses taught asynchronously apart from a Zoom orientation at the start of the semester. Students must take at least nine semester credits of legal specialty courses through synchronous instruction, which the sheet says can be live on Zoom or in person.
The certificate is awarded only to students who have an Associate in Science, an Associate of Arts, or a bachelor's or higher degree from a regionally accredited college or university, and students with an associate degree have their transcripts evaluated against the program's general education requirements. The program information sheet says there is no admission process beyond signing up for classes. All 24 units of required courses must be completed at Fullerton College, and up to six restricted elective units can transfer from another ABA-approved program when the course matches a Fullerton College course and carries the same number of units. The sheet says a full-time student can finish the associate degree in about two years and the certificate in about two and a half to three years. Fullerton College also offers specialty certificates in Criminal Law, eDiscovery and Technology, Law School First-Year Prep, and Real Estate Law, and it says the program does not prepare students for law school or the practice of law.
The same words describe three different products, and a list that ranks them together compares a community college
credit program with a university's continuing education course. This site keeps them apart.
A credit-bearing program, priced at the college's tuition, often a stepping stone to an associate's degree. Ranked on this page, online and by state.
Post-Baccalaureate CertificateFor Degree Holders
The legal coursework alone, for someone who already holds a bachelor's degree, often priced apart from the university's tuition. Compared on published prices.
Extension CertificateExtension Divisions And Law Schools
Run outside the degree system, often without academic credit, so federal data does not count it. Several are ABA-approved, among them the programs at UCLA Extension and UC San Diego's extension division. Compared on published facts with the degree-holder certificates.
Paralegal Certificate Rankings By State
A campus certificate is a local purchase, so each state page ranks its own approved certificate programs on the
in-state price, beside the state's own rules for paralegals. The states below are ordered by how many they rank.
At an approved community college, a certificate costs what its credits cost: the median in-state tuition and fees for
a full-time year at the ranked programs is $5,155, and a district resident often pays less. The undergraduate certificates profiled here have a median of 30 semester credits, close to a full-time year. What a paralegal certificate costs and
how long it takes go further.
Does The Certificate Need To Be ABA-Approved?
Not to get a job, in most states. But approval is named in rules you may meet later: California's statute accepts an
approved certificate outright, NALA's exam accepts graduates of approved programs, NFPA's exams accept certificates
from approved programs, and North Carolina's certification counts approved programs as qualified. Every program ranked
on this site is approved, and the work a certificate prepares you for is set out in the
paralegal job description.
Common Questions About Paralegal Certificate Programs
What are the best paralegal certificate programs?
On this ranking of ABA-approved certificate programs, Pasadena City College is first, then San Diego Miramar College and De Anza College, scored on tuition and fees (40%), graduation rate (30%), paralegal graduates (30%), with tuition at the price a resident of the school's state pays. If you already hold a bachelor's degree, the certificates built for you are compared on their own page, and if you will study online, the online ranking scores the out-of-state price an online student usually pays.
How long is a paralegal certificate program?
From a few months to two years. IPEDS sorts certificates by length, and paralegal certificates of under a year and of one to two years are both common. The undergraduate certificates profiled here have a median of 30 semester credits, close to a full-time year. The ABA does not approve options with fewer than 18 semester credits of legal specialty courses.
How much does a paralegal certificate cost?
At an ABA-approved community college, the price of the credits it takes: the median in-state tuition and fees for a full-time year at the ranked certificate programs is $5,155, and the undergraduate certificates profiled here have a median of 30 semester credits. Certificates for degree holders are priced on their own, from $2,307 upward among the approved programs compared.
Can you get a paralegal certificate online?
Yes. 33 ABA-approved certificate programs can be finished at least partly online, by the school's own page or, where it says nothing, the federal record, and several approved extension programs offer online certificates outside the federal data. Approved programs still teach at least nine credits of legal courses live, by video if online.
Does a paralegal certificate make you a certified paralegal?
No. A certificate is what a school awards. "Certified paralegal" refers to a credential earned by exam, most often NALA's Certified Paralegal. A certificate from a qualifying program is one of the ways to become eligible for that exam.
