Georgia sets the limits of paralegal work through its Supreme Court, in opinions on unauthorized practice and on real estate closings above all, and is weighing a proposed pilot that would license limited legal practitioners.
Clayton State University leads Georgia's ABA-approved certificate programs.
As a Georgia resident you'd pay $3,164 to $5,068 in tuition and fees for a full-time year at Georgia's ranked programs.
4 approved programs in Georgia 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 30% of the 238 paralegal credentials Georgia schools awarded in 2023-24.
Paralegals in Georgia earn a median $62,400, below the national $62,890.
In Georgia, 14 schools conferred paralegal credentials in 2023-24 without ABA approval, more than the 5 with an approved program. They are listed at the foot of the page with their federal figures. The rankings below cover 1 certificate program, 5 associate degrees and 1 bachelor's degree.
Approved programs are ranked within each award level on tuition and fees (what a full-time year costs a Georgia resident), graduation rate and paralegal graduates. Positions below are within Georgia,
but each score compares a program with every approved program at its level in the country.
How each score is calculated.
What A Georgia Paralegal May Do
Georgia law lets nonlawyers provide paralegal and clerical services to attorneys, so long as the attorney keeps full and direct responsibility to the client for them (O.C.G.A. 15-19-54, quoted in a Supreme Court-approved opinion). The comment to Rule 5.5 of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct says the same from the lawyer's side. Credentials are voluntary: the Georgia Association of Paralegals, a charter member of NFPA, points its members to the national certification exams.
The limits come from advisory opinions the Supreme Court of Georgia issued or approved. A lawyer aids unauthorized practice by letting a paralegal prepare and sign letters that threaten legal action or give legal advice (Formal Advisory Opinion 00-2), and preparing a deed or facilitating its execution is the practice of law (UPL Advisory Opinion 2003-2). The 2000 opinion also recognizes that a paralegal may represent clients where the law allows nonlawyer representation, before the Social Security Administration, for example, as long as the client knows the representation is by a paralegal.
This Rule does not prohibit a lawyer from employing the services of paraprofessionals and delegating functions to them, so long as the lawyer supervises the delegated work and retains responsibility for their work.
Georgia treats a real estate closing as the practice of law, so a lawyer may not let a paralegal close (Formal Advisory Opinion 86-5). Formal Advisory Opinion 00-3 rejected a closing run by a paralegal at a remote site with the lawyer reachable only by telephone. In 2025 Formal Advisory Opinion 23-1 allowed the lawyer to attend by video conference, provided the lawyer controls the closing from beginning to end. It didn't approve handing the closing to a paralegal.
The lawyer's physical presence at a closing will assure that there is supervision of the work of the paralegal which is direct and constant.
A Proposed Pilot For Limited Licensed Legal Practitioners
In August 2024 the Supreme Court of Georgia created a Study Committee on Legal Regulatory Reform to examine letting qualified, credentialed and supervised non-attorneys give limited legal help directly to low-income Georgians. Its final report (June 2025) proposes a three-year pilot in which Limited Licensed Legal Practitioners would give general legal guidance and help with forms to qualifying landlords and tenants and to people with consumer debt problems. They would not appear in court or contact other parties.
Practitioners would have to work for or with an approved legal services provider or community organization in the pilot, qualify through education (a paralegal degree or a paralegal certificate among the options) or through experience such as paralegal work, and then complete training, a written exam, a portfolio review and a period of observation. When the report was submitted, the Court said it would review the recommendations and decide next steps. No order adopting the pilot had been published when this page was checked.
The LLLPs would be permitted to provide general legal guidance in these narrow areas of law and assist with preparing and drafting forms and documents.
ABA-Approved Paralegal Certificate Programs In Georgia
One approved program in Georgia conferred an undergraduate paralegal certificate in 2023-24. Paralegal certificate programs in Georgia are ranked here only when a new student can start them. Tuition is a full-time year of in-state tuition and fees. The out-of-state or in-district figure is beside it where it differs.
#1Paralegal certificate programs in Georgia
Score63.7/ 100
Certificate in Paralegal Studies (Paralegal Certificate)
Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, offers ABA-approved options (a B.S. in Legal Studies, an A.S. in Paralegal Studies and an 18-credit Paralegal Certificate), and any of them can be completed fully online, with every paralegal and legal studies course taught either live on Microsoft Teams or with no required meetings.
Key Program Details
B.S. in Legal Studies: 120 credit hours
A.S. in Paralegal Studies: 60 credit hours
Paralegal Certificate: 18 credit hours, all legal specialty courses
Paralegal and legal studies courses taught online, live on Microsoft Teams or with no required meetings
Certificate starts in fall or spring only
$176 per semester credit
Read more
The certificate, the A.S. and the B.S. share a core of Introduction to Law & Ethics, Civil Litigation, and Legal Research & Writing, plus 2000-level paralegal courses such as Business Organizations, Computers in the Law, Real Estate Law, Wills, Trusts and Probate Law, Family Law, and Law Office Skills. The 18-credit certificate is made up entirely of legal specialty courses, the 60-credit A.S. adds the Core IMPACTS general education curriculum, and the 120-credit B.S. adds upper-division courses including Judicial Process, Advanced Legal Research & Writing, a Legal Studies Capstone and a Social Sciences Internship. Every PARA- and LGST-coded course is offered online, either synchronously with a weekly class meeting on Microsoft Teams or asynchronously, and students must take at least nine semester credits of legal specialty courses through face-to-face or online synchronous instruction.
The certificate is open to students who already hold a bachelor's degree, a qualifying A.A., A.S. or A.A.S. degree, or at least 60 college credits that include at least 18 semester hours of general education; certificate students can start only in fall or spring and apply as transfer students rather than post-baccalaureate students. The A.S. is designed mainly for students with little or no previous college credit, and A.S. and B.S. students are encouraged to add the certificate as a secondary curriculum because all of its courses are part of both degrees. No more than nine legal specialty credits can transfer into the certificate or the A.S., and students must earn a C or higher in Introduction to Law & Ethics before taking other paralegal courses. Clayton State's Pre-Law Minor is not part of the Legal Studies Program and is not ABA-approved.
ASBSCertificateOnline
clayton.eduOctober 5, 2026
ABA-Approved Associate Degrees In Paralegal Studies In Georgia
An associate's degree adds general education to the paralegal courses and usually takes two years full time.
Atlanta Technical College leads Georgia's 5 approved associate programs, conferring 6 paralegal degrees in 2023-24.
Atlanta Technical College lists its ABA-approved Paralegal Studies program among those that can be completed through evening, online and weekend courses, and it offers a 30-credit-hour certificate for students who already hold a bachelor's degree.
Key Program Details
Associate of Applied Science: 69 credit hours, minimum of six semester terms
Professional TCC for bachelor's degree holders: 30 credit hours, minimum of two semester terms
Required internship for degree students (200 hours)
Evening classes Monday through Thursday, with Saturday courses most semesters
At least 9 credit hours in a classroom or in live online classes
Athens Technical College in Athens, Georgia offers its ABA-approved Legal Studies program as a 72 to 74-credit Associate of Applied Science and a 30-credit post-baccalaureate Technical Certificate of Credit for bachelor's degree holders, listed as partially online, with at least 9 credit hours of required legal specialty courses taught synchronously.
Key Program Details
Associate of Applied Science: 72 to 74 credit hours
Post-baccalaureate Technical Certificate of Credit: 30 credit hours, for bachelor's degree holders
Athens Tech lists the program as partially online, with at least 9 synchronous legal specialty credit hours
At least 12 Legal Studies credit hours completed at Athens Tech
Lexis subscription from Introduction to Law and Ethics onward
Central Georgia Technical College's Legal Studies program, which the college says gained ABA approval in August 2023, offers a 69-credit-hour associate degree with a required internship or practicum and a 27-credit-hour certificate for bachelor's degree holders.
Key Program Details
Associate degree: 69 credit hours, including a six-hour internship or practicum
Georgia Piedmont Technical College offers its ABA-approved paralegal program, listed in its catalog as Legal Studies, as an Associate of Applied Science and a 30-credit post-baccalaureate Technical Certificate of Credit built for students who already hold a four-year degree, with entry through a C in English Composition and Rhetoric and a minimum score on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Test.
Key Program Details
Post-baccalaureate Technical Certificate of Credit: 30 credits, for four-year degree holders
Associate of Applied Science: 18 general education credits and 51 occupational credits
Entry: C in ENGL 1101 and a Watson-Glaser score of at least 20
At least 10 percent of legal specialty courses in a traditional classroom
Legal specialty transfer credit only from ABA-approved schools
$107 per semester credit
AASCertificate
gptc.eduOctober 2, 2026
ABA-approved paralegal associate degrees in Georgia, ranked 5 onward
Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, offers ABA-approved options (a B.S. in Legal Studies, an A.S. in Paralegal Studies and an 18-credit Paralegal Certificate), and any of them can be completed fully online, with every paralegal and legal studies course taught either live on Microsoft Teams or with no required meetings.
Key Program Details
B.S. in Legal Studies: 120 credit hours
A.S. in Paralegal Studies: 60 credit hours
Paralegal Certificate: 18 credit hours, all legal specialty courses
Paralegal and legal studies courses taught online, live on Microsoft Teams or with no required meetings
Certificate starts in fall or spring only
$176 per semester credit
ASBSCertificateOnline
clayton.eduOctober 5, 2026
What A Paralegal Program Costs In Georgia
Across Georgia's ranked approved programs, you'd pay between $3,164 and $5,068 for a full-time year of tuition and fees as a Georgia resident,
with a median of $3,180.
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 Georgia
BLS puts the median for paralegals and legal assistants (SOC 23-2011) in Georgia at $62,400 a year,
$490 below the national median of $62,890, 22nd highest of the 51 states and districts BLS reports.
The 10th percentile is $39,530 and the 90th is $101,210. 14,160 people in Georgia hold the job. Figures are from the BLS OEWS May 2025 release. Paralegal pay in every state sets them side by side.
Every Paralegal Program In Georgia
Every school in Georgia 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 Certificates In Georgia
Do you need a certificate to be a paralegal in Georgia?
State law lets nonlawyers provide paralegal services to attorneys so long as the attorney keeps full responsibility for them, and it names no certificate. A certificate is a common way to prepare. The national certifications are voluntary, and the Georgia Association of Paralegals points its members to them.
Can a paralegal do a real estate closing in Georgia?
No. Advisory opinions issued by the Supreme Court of Georgia treat a closing as the practice of law, so the lawyer must conduct it. Since 2025 the lawyer may attend by video conference while controlling the closing from start to finish, but a paralegal may not close in the lawyer's place.
How many ABA-approved paralegal programs are in Georgia?
The ABA's directory lists 5 approved programs in Georgia. IPEDS shows 19 schools in the state conferring paralegal credentials in 2023-24, and 14 of them run a program the ABA has not approved.
What are the best paralegal certificate programs in Georgia?
On this ranking, Clayton State University, which charges $5,068 a year in in-state tuition and fees, graduates 35% of its first-time students and conferred 22 paralegal certificates in 2023-24. Every program ranked here is ABA-approved.
What is the cheapest ABA-approved paralegal program in Georgia?
Of the programs ranked here, you'd pay the least as a Georgia resident at Atlanta Technical College, $3,164 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 Georgia?
BLS puts the median for paralegals and legal assistants (SOC 23-2011) in Georgia at $62,400 a year, $490 below the national median of $62,890, with 14,160 people in the job. The 10th percentile is $39,530 and the 90th is $101,210. 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.
