There's no state paralegal certification in Florida. The Florida Bar runs a voluntary Florida Registered Paralegal program instead, and its rules make it unlicensed practice of law to use the title to serve the public without a lawyer's supervision.
Florida's ranked programs are 8 associate degrees and 2 bachelor's degrees; its certificates for degree holders are compared on the post-baccalaureate page.
As a Florida resident you'd pay $2,657 to $37,080 in tuition and fees for a full-time year at Florida's ranked programs.
5 approved programs in Florida can be finished at least partly online, by each school's own page or, where a page says nothing, the federal record or the ABA's online flag.
ABA-approved programs conferred 43% of the 681 paralegal credentials Florida schools awarded in 2023-24.
Paralegals in Florida earn a median $61,000, below the national $62,890.
Paralegal certification in Florida is separate from the education programs ranked here, and Florida has 4 ABA-approved certificates for degree holders, so they are compared by published tuition on the post-baccalaureate certificate page. The rankings below cover 8 associate degrees and 2 bachelor's degrees. Another 17 schools in the state conferred paralegal credentials in 2023-24 without ABA approval. They are listed at the foot of the page with their federal figures.
Approved programs are ranked within each award level on tuition and fees (what a full-time year costs a Florida resident), graduation rate and paralegal graduates. Positions below are within Florida,
but each score compares a program with every approved program at its level in the country.
How each score is calculated.
The Florida Registered Paralegal Program
The Florida Bar registers paralegals under chapter 20 of its rules, and the Florida Registered Paralegal (FRP) designation is voluntary. There are three ways to qualify. The education route pairs a degree with paralegal experience: a bachelor's in paralegal studies from an approved program and one year, any other bachelor's and three years, an associate's in paralegal studies from an approved program and two years, or any associate's and four. The certification route accepts NFPA's PACE or NALA's CP in good standing. And since July 8, 2024, a lawyer can attest to five of the last eight years of paralegal work, with 30 hours of recent continuing education.
An approved program, in the Bar's rules, is one the ABA has approved or one that is an institutional member of the American Association for Paralegal Education and accredited. A paralegal certificate on its own doesn't count as a degree for the education route, and an applicant must be working as a paralegal for a member of The Florida Bar. Registration costs $145, renewal $150 a year, and a registrant needs 30 hours of continuing education every three years, five in ethics or professionalism and three in technology. The Bar reported 4,661 registrants in July 2024.
No, registration is voluntary. You may continue to work as a paralegal without registering.
Florida's rules tie the title to supervision. Anyone who calls themselves a paralegal or legal assistant when offering services to the public must work for or under a lawyer, and using the title to serve the public directly without meeting the Bar's definition is unlicensed practice of law. People who serve the public directly cannot register as FRPs. The chapter 20 rules were last amended effective October 1, 2026.
It constitutes the unlicensed practice of law for a person who does not meet the definition of paralegal or legal assistant to use the title paralegal, legal assistant, or other similar term in offering to provide or in providing services directly to the public.
ABA-Approved Associate Degrees In Paralegal Studies In Florida
An associate's degree adds general education to the paralegal courses and usually takes two years full time.
Miami Dade College leads Florida's 8 approved associate programs, conferring 34 paralegal degrees in 2023-24.
Miami Dade College's ABA-approved Paralegal Studies program is a 64-credit Associate in Science taught on the Wolfson Campus in Miami, Florida, and it builds in an internship or a cooperative education course.
Key Program Details
64 program credits: 18 in general education, 46 in the major
Paralegal courses meet at the Wolfson Campus in Miami, Florida
The internship requires twenty hours a week
At most twelve legal specialty credits transfer in
The ABA's directory lists this program with a show-cause sanction: it remains approved while the
ABA asks it to show why approval should continue.
$2,657
a year; $9,631 out-of-state
Graduation rate
32%
Paralegal graduates
33
degrees, 2023-24
Format
Hybrid
8.3
6.1
9.4
Program Summary
FSCJ says its Legal Studies (Paralegal Studies) A.S. has held ABA approval since 1997; the degree ends with a professional internship of at least 180 hours at a law-related office, and bachelor's degree holders can take a 22-credit Advanced Technical Certificate instead.
Key Program Details
A.S. in Legal Studies (Paralegal Studies): 64 credits
A.T.C. in Paralegal Studies: 22 credits, bachelor's degree required
A.S. ends with an internship of at least 180 hours or a simulated law office class
Some credit hours must be taken through traditional classroom instruction
FSCJ dates ABA approval to 1997 for the A.S. and fall 2015 for the A.T.C.
Broward College's ABA-approved Paralegal Studies (Legal Assisting) program is a 64-credit Associate of Science whose paralegal courses are offered at the Judson A. Samuels South Campus and the North Campus, with an internship available as a program elective.
Key Program Details
64 semester credit hours
Admission requires a high school diploma or GED
Paralegal courses meet at the Judson A. Samuels South Campus and the North Campus
An internship is available as a program elective
At least 12 legal specialty credits are earned at Broward
$118 per semester credit
AS
catalog.broward.eduOctober 5, 2026
#4In Florida
Score75.0/ 100
Paralegal Studies, Associate in Science (Program Code 2505)
Palm Beach State College's ABA-approved paralegal A.S. and Advanced Technical Certificate are both offered online and on site at its Lake Worth, Florida and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida campuses, with fall, spring and summer starts.
Key Program Details
A.S. in Paralegal Studies: 64 credits, two years full-time
Paralegal ATC: 24 credits, bachelor's degree required, one year full-time
Online and on site at the Lake Worth, Florida and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida campuses
Fall, spring and summer starts
Transfer students need 10 on-ground legal specialty credits at Palm Beach State
$101 per semester credit
ASCertificate
pbsc.eduOctober 1, 2026
ABA-approved paralegal associate degrees in Florida, ranked 5 onward
St. Petersburg College's paralegal Associate in Science transfers into its Bachelor of Applied Science, which the college describes as the only public baccalaureate paralegal program in Florida approved by the American Bar Association.
Key Program Details
Associate in Science: 64 credits
Bachelor of Applied Science: 120 credits, including 60 from a prior associate degree or college work
Certificate for bachelor's degree holders: 24 credits
Many courses offered online as well as face to face; the associate program is directed from the Clearwater, Florida campus
Bachelor's program admits students in January, May and August
$123 per semester credit
ASBACertificateOnline
spcollege.eduOctober 8, 2026
#2In Florida
Score36.0/ 100
Bachelor of Science in Law, Paralegal Studies concentration
Nova Southeastern University now offers its ABA-approved paralegal training through the paralegal studies concentration of its Bachelor of Science in Law, with online or on-campus course delivery, and through a 30-credit post-baccalaureate certificate open only to NSU students.
Key Program Details
B.S. in Law, paralegal studies concentration: 54-credit major within a 120-credit degree
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Paralegal Studies: 30 credits, NSU students only
Online or on-campus course delivery advertised for the B.S. in Law
Paralegal portfolio and exit interview required
Paralegal studies minor is not ABA-approved
$1,350 per semester credit
BSCertificateMinor
law.nova.eduOctober 1, 2026
What A Paralegal Program Costs In Florida
Across Florida's ranked approved programs, you'd pay between $2,657 and $37,080 for a full-time year of tuition and fees as a Florida resident,
with a median of $2,838.
Tuition and fees are what each school reported to IPEDS for a full-time undergraduate year in 2023-24, tuition plus required fees, before books, supplies or aid. A certificate of about 30 semester credits is roughly a full-time year of coursework, but programs differ in length and many students take them part-time, so read the figure as a way to compare schools. Colleges set new rates every year. It is not the price of a post-baccalaureate or extension certificate, which schools price separately.
What Paralegals Earn In Florida
BLS puts the median for paralegals and legal assistants (SOC 23-2011) in Florida at $61,000 a year,
$1,890 below the national median of $62,890, 29th highest of the 51 states and districts BLS reports.
The 10th percentile is $38,830 and the 90th is $83,410. 40,950 people in Florida hold the job. Figures are from the BLS OEWS May 2025 release. Pay for paralegals in every state sets them side by side.
What each of Florida's metro areas pays is on the paralegal salary in Florida page.
Every Paralegal Program In Florida
Every school in Florida that the ABA lists or that conferred a paralegal credential in 2023-24 is here, approved
programs first. Awards are the paralegal credentials each school reported to IPEDS for that year.
Common Questions About Paralegal Certification In Florida
Do paralegals have to be registered in Florida?
No. The Florida Bar's Registered Paralegal program is voluntary, and a paralegal may keep working without registering. Registration requires working for a member of The Florida Bar and meeting an education, certification or attestation route.
Is paralegal certification in Florida the same as registration?
No. Registration is the Florida Bar's voluntary Registered Paralegal program for paralegals who work for a member of The Florida Bar. National certification, such as NFPA's PACE or NALA's CP, comes from the credentialing body and is one of the routes to registration.
Does a paralegal certificate count toward Florida Registered Paralegal status?
Not as a degree: the education routes need an associate's degree or higher. If you hold a certificate, you can qualify through national certification (NFPA's PACE or NALA's CP) or, with five of the last eight years of paralegal work, through a lawyer's attestation.
How many ABA-approved paralegal programs are in Florida?
The ABA's directory lists 9 approved programs in Florida. IPEDS shows 26 schools in the state conferring paralegal credentials in 2023-24, and 17 of them run a program the ABA has not approved.
What is the cheapest ABA-approved paralegal program in Florida?
Of the programs ranked here, you'd pay the least as a Florida resident at Florida State College at Jacksonville, $2,657 for a full-time year of tuition and fees in 2023-24. That's the figure the school reports to IPEDS, and schools reset it every year.
What do paralegals make in Florida?
BLS puts the median for paralegals and legal assistants (SOC 23-2011) in Florida at $61,000 a year, $1,890 below the national median of $62,890, with 40,950 people in the job. The 10th percentile is $38,830 and the 90th is $83,410. Figures are from the BLS OEWS May 2025 release.
Paralegal Programs In Other States
A campus program usually means the state you live in, but an online one does not. These are the
other states with enough ABA-approved programs for a page of their own.
