Paralegal Programs at Madisonville Community College
Madisonville Community College appears in our ranking of the 50 Most Affordable Online Paralegal Degree Programs.
Madisonville Community College offers a paralegal studies program for those who want to find work in the legal field or transfer to another college to complete a bachelor’s degree. As the college has regional accreditation, students shouldn’t have any problems taking their credits to one of the bachelor’s programs in paralegal studies offered by other Kentucky schools. Students must complete at least 24 of their credits through community colleges in the state, and they must maintain a GPA of 2.0 or higher in all their classes. Failure to maintain this GPA can result in academic probation. Those who do not take enough classes from the system will need to retake some of their classes at Madisonville Community College or other schools.
To earn an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Paralegal Technology, students can expect to spend two years in the program. They will take at least 12 credits each semester and sign up for a variety of required classes, general education courses, and electives. This is an online program that uses the Blackboard system. Students must log in multiple times a week to do assignments. They will also take quizzes and tests online and use the discussion boards to talk about their readings and work with other students.
Also available is a paralegal technology certificate program. This is a much shorter program that includes only paralegal and legal classes. Students do not need to take general education courses. The college offers classes in both programs that help students develop the skills that paralegals need, including how to research legal documents and draft briefs. They’ll also take some management classes because paralegals are often responsible for the daily operations of a law firm. Madisonville Community College allows students to sign up for either program and qualify for in-state tuition as they take classes online, even if they live in another state.
About Madisonville Community College
Madisonville Community College is a public college that operates as a community college. Located in Madisonville, Kentucky, it has an open enrollment policy that allows students to apply no matter how much academic experience they have. Established in 1968 as community colleges opened across the United States, it joined the University of Kentucky’s Community College System that same year. The Madisonville Area Trade School opened as a separate institution in 1937 and later became Madisonville Technical College. The two schools came together in 2001 to form Madisonville Community College, also known as MCC. MCC is now part of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
Though MCC started as a community college for residents of Hopkins County, it now offers opportunities for students across the state and in surrounding states. The majority of its students come from seven Kentucky counties. Most attend the North Campus, which offers classes in social and behavioral sciences and other areas. The old Madisonville Technical College is now home to the MCC Technical Campus. It also operates a Health Campus and a small campus in Central City. MCC has an enrollment of around 2,700 students and announced plans to add new resources to its main campus for those students through the 2020s.
Madisonville Community College Accreditation Details
MCC has institutional accreditation, which is important for students who want to transfer to a university. This accreditation comes from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and also allows the college to accept any credits that students already earned. Students have the chance to apply for financial aid and use both state and federal funds because of that accreditation too. The college designed its paralegal studies program to meet the standards established by the American Bar Association (ABA) for those professionals also.
Madisonville Community College Application Requirements
MCC asks that students follow just four steps to apply. They need to complete the college’s application, which only takes 15 to 20 minutes to finish. The application allows students to tell the college more about them, including what they want to study and whether they finished high school. They will need an email address, social security number and the address of their high schools. MCC then asks for a GED or high school transcript and an ACT or SAT score. Students will then apply for financial aid.
In lieu of an ACT/SAT score, students can take a placement test. The minimum ACT score required of incoming students is 18 to 20 on the English, math and reading sections of that test. Those who score below this range will need to take a placement test also. The college allows students to take the test for free on campus and gives them 60 minutes to complete it. Those who need to take the test again will pay a fee each time they take it in the future. MCC uses the results of this test to decide where to place students in those subject areas of whether the students tested out of those areas.
Tuition and Financial Aid
As MCC is a community college designed to meet the needs of students at the local level, it offers a reduced tuition rate for residents of Kentucky, even if they live outside of Madisonville. Students who are residents of Hopkins County and any other county in the state pay $174 per credit hour. Those who live in neighboring counties that are in other states will pay $348 per credit hour. Students who attend MCC and come from outside of Kentucky pay $609 per credit hour. The college also charges a flat fee of $8 per credit hour that includes all its fees.
Students attending MCC qualify for different types of financial aid. When they complete the FAFSA and choose MCC as the school they will attend, they can qualify for grants and loans. The Kentucky Work Ready program allows those studying certain fields to get free tuition. They must agree to take at least six credits of classes at a time, but they then get free tuition for the first 60 credits of classes they take. MCC also offers scholarships, which require that students submit an application. This application asks for two letters of recommendation, a high school transcript and an essay of one page in length. Paralegal studies majors at Madisonville Community College can use scholarships with government aid to pay for their classes.
