National Paralegal College

National Paralegal College
Type For-profit college
Established 2002
President Avi Katz
Dean Stephen Haas
Location Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Campus Distance education
Website nationalparalegal.edu

National Paralegal College (NPC) is an online distance learning college offering paralegal certifications, associates, bachelor's and master's degrees in legal studies. The college is centrally located in Phoenix, Arizona and is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission.

History

National Paralegal 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 2014 NPC employs a large faculty and staff and serves more than 1,200 students.

Mission

NPC's mission 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

NPC offers a Paralegal certificate and Associates degree in paralegal studies and a Bachelor's degree in legal studies or business administration.[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 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]

NPC, through its graduate division, National Juris University,[3] also offers master's degrees in legal studies,[4] taxation[5] and compliance law.[6]

Transfer credit policy

NPC accepts transfer credit in the following amounts:[7]

- 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 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[8] and accepts credits that are recommended by the American Council on Education.[9]

Accreditation

NPC is nationally accredited. Regionally accredited institutions sometimes do not accept credit from nationally accredited institutions.[10] Because state colleges and universities are regionally accredited, they may not accept the transfer of coursework from this institution should a student decide to transfer.[11] However, according to a 2006 study by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), DEAC graduates who attempted to transfer credits report they were successful 70% of the time.[12] Moreover, National Paralegal College's courses are recommended for transfer credit by the National College Credit Recommendation Service.[13] Over 1500 Colleges and Universities that have indicated a willingness to accept National CCRS credit recommendations.[14]

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.[15] 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,[16] religioustolerance.org[17] and the Massachusetts Trial Course law libraries website.[18]

Other content made publicly available includes a series of legal analyses of the news prepared and delivered by National Paralegal College faculty.[19]

Accreditation and agreements

NPC maintains a number of licenses, memberships, accreditation and agreements:

Type Organization
Accreditation Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education Accrediting Commission
License Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education[20]
Member National Association of Legal Assistants[21]
Associate member American Association for Paralegal Education[22]
Transfer credit recommendation National Collegiate Credit Recommendation Service, a division of the University of the State of New York[23]
Articulation agreement Charter Oak State College, part of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (ConnSCU). This agreement allows students to apply credits for NPC courses towards associate and bachelor's degrees at Charter Oak.[24]
Member Higher Education Transfer Alliance (HETA) of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation,[25] an agreement that facilitates the transfer of academic credits by students between member institutions.[26]
Approved Member National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements, (NC-SARA),[27] an organization that establishes comparable national standards for interstate offering of post-secondary distance education courses and programs.

References

  1. ↑ How To Become a Paralegal
  2. ↑ NPC Bachelor's Degree courses page
  3. ↑ National Juris University home page
  4. ↑ MS in Legal Studies Page
  5. ↑ MS in Taxation Page
  6. ↑ MS in Compliance Law Page
  7. ↑ http://nationalparalegal.edu/Tuition.aspx
  8. ↑ Council for Higher Education Accreditation
  9. ↑ American Council on Education
  10. ↑ http://www.elearners.com/online-education-resources/degrees-and-programs/regional-accreditation-vs-national-accreditation/
  11. ↑ http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/02/26/transfer
  12. ↑ http://www.alu.edu/blog/2012/05/the-myths-about-detc-accreditation/
  13. ↑ http://www.nationalccrs.org/ccr/national_paralegal_college.html
  14. ↑ http://www.nationalccrs.org/colleges_universities/
  15. ↑ Adobe Connect
  16. ↑ Resources online: Websites of interest to chaplains
  17. ↑ "Separation of church and state" issues
  18. ↑ Massachusetts Law About Criminal Law and Procedure
  19. ↑ National Paralegal College Faculty's Legal Analysis of the News
  20. ↑ Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education
  21. ↑ National Association of Legal Assistants
  22. ↑ American Association for Paralegal Education
  23. ↑ http://www.nationalccrs.org/organizations/national-paralegal-college
  24. ↑ "Articulation Agreement on NPC website" (PDF).
  25. ↑ NPC's HETA Page
  26. ↑ Higher Education Transfer Alliance
  27. ↑ http://nc-sara.org/states/az]

Coordinates: 33°31′51″N 112°03′51″W / 33.530868°N 112.064243°W / 33.530868; -112.064243

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