Paralegal Programs at Alexandria Technical & Community College
Alexandria Technical & Community College appears in our ranking of the 50 Most Affordable Online Paralegal Degree Programs.
The paralegal studies program offered by Alexandria Technical & Community College helps students complete an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree. Designed for those who want to work with lawyers and as legal assistants, it includes a direct exam that students must take. Those who achieve a passing score can graduate and get their degrees. The exam covers the topics and issues that they addressed in the program.
Paralegal majors can start in the spring or the fall, and some students start in the summer. They will take a total of 63 credits of classes and spend at least three hours working on their classes each week. Most of the required courses focus on different areas of law, including Debtor/Creditor and Intellectual Property and Estate, Probate and Real Estate. Other courses teach students how to manage and run legal offices, including Accounting for Business, Interpersonal Communication and Legal Office Procedures and Ethics. Other required classes include Evidence and Exhibit Preparation, Legal Research for Paralegals and Job Keeping and Keeping Skills.
The paralegal program includes five semesters of work. Students spend four semesters in the classroom and the final semester doing an internship. They earn a minimum of four credits for this internship, though students who spend more time in the field will earn up to six credits. Alexandria Technical & Community College can help students find positions in legal aid clinics or in specialized legal firms.
Other programs offered by the college can prepare students for legal careers. One is a law enforcement program designed for those who want to work as police officers and detectives. The college also offers a transition program for law enforcement professionals and a program that teaches students law enforcement skills. There is also an individualized studies program that includes 60 credits of classes. Students take 30 credits of technical courses and 30 credits of general education courses. It allows students to take paralegal courses and courses from other subject areas.
About Alexandria Technical & Community College
Alexandria Technical & Community College is a community college and technical school that offers vocational training programs for students. Established in 1961 as other community colleges opened across the country, it provided resources and training for students in set fields. As the need of the student body changed, the college looked for ways to expand its curriculum and introduce new programs for those students. The college now offers programs designed for both professionals and traditional and nontraditional college students. Many of those programs include practical training that helps students understand what they will do in the field.
Also called ATCC, it now offers more than 50 different degree and certificate programs. It has a high placement rate that reached 90% or more for several consecutive years. This refers to the number of students who find work in their fields or transfer to another college once they graduate. The transfer programs offered by the college let students complete some general education requirements and take courses that apply to the majors they choose. More than half of the more than 4,000 students who attend ATCC enroll full-time. Many of the part-time students attending Alexandria Technical & Community College have full-time jobs and other commitments that they can maintain while in college.
Alexandria Technical & Community College Accreditation Details
ATCC has accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which is the regional accreditation necessary for students who need financial aid. To ensure that it maintains accreditation standards, the college has an assessment committee that is responsible for viewing those standards and finding issues at the college. This committee is responsible for overseeing both regional and program accreditation standards. ATCC also has the authorization to operate and offer programs in Minnesota.
Alexandria Technical & Community College Application Requirements
Students with a GED or a high school diploma and fewer than 12 credits are new students. Those with 12 or more credits are transfer students who will need to use a different application. New students will pay a $20 application fee and submit the ATCC online application. They also need to provide a high school transcript or a GED certificate. If a student has any college credits, he or she must submit a separate college transcript too. Transfer students will also provide their transcripts and pay a $20 application after completing the application. ATCC does not require that they provide a high school transcript.
The application process also includes a placement test. Students who took the ACT or SAT in high school can submit an official score. The college will use that score to determine if the student needs to take any math or English prerequisites. All other students will take a placement exam that is similar to a standardized test. ATCC can use the score and decide whether the student should take prerequisites or if he or she can immediately begin advanced classes. The college makes it easy for students to both sign up for this test and register for classes online.
Tuition and Financial Aid
As paralegal majors can take online and traditional classes, they need to look at the costs of each type of class. Online courses cost $209.35 per credit hour, which includes all fees. Traditional classes cost $180.53 with fees already added. ATCC doesn’t charge a nonresident rate because it believes that all students deserve the right to affordable education. Some of the classes that students take may cost more than this set amount though.
More than $300,000 worth of scholarships goes to worthy students attending ATCC every year. The college has a foundation that picks students for scholarships based on the strength of their applications. Students have until April first to submit scholarship applications for the fall semester. They need to provide an application, an unofficial or official high school transcript and one letter of recommendation. Students may receive scholarships that they can renew if they spend more than one year at the college. ATCC also accepts federal and state financial aid from those branches of the government. Students find out if they qualify for those funds with the FAFSA. Some of the government aid that goes to paralegal studies majors at Alexandria Technical & Community College include grants from the state government and federal student loans.
