The stars of the courtroom are often the attorneys and judge, but the most underrated person in the room may very well be the court reporter. This individual is responsible for documenting the court proceedings, and their records can prove crucial to resolving legal disputes and determining the outcome of appeals. While court reporters traditionally used stenotype machines to record judicial proceedings, new technology has made voice and electronic recording more prevalent. Between the importance of this information and the many methods of recording it, it's no surprise that education is paramount to success in this career.
Students looking for an online program for court reporting could be interested in our list of schools directly below. This list of featured schools for court reporting was compiled using data, such as in-state tuition costs and graduation rate, accessed from the National Center for Education Statistics' Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
Visit our methodologies page to learn more about how we use official data to evaluate schools.
Cuyahoga Community College, also known as Tri-C, offers both a certificate in captioning & court reporting and an Associate of Applied Business in captioning & court reporting degree. These two programs are available entirely online, but also can be pursued on-campus or through a hybrid program that combines both. More specifically, the associate degree can be completed in either of the following areas:
The school's court program began in 2004 and provides online courses in a 16-week format. Blackboard is used for Cuyahoga's distance-learning platform. The school carries the distinction of offering an "Earn While You Learn" Realtime Writing Mentoring Program, which can enable students to earn money as they build skills. The community college's open admissions policy means it's possible for anyone to be accepted into the program, so long as they apply after earning either a high school diploma or a GED certificate.
Accreditation:
Location:
700 Carnegie Avenue,Pursue a certificate in court report & captioning or an Associate of Applied Science in court and realtime reporting degree at SUNY College of Technology at Alfred State. Both of these programs are 100 percent online and use the Blackboard Online Learning System. Students can be confident in the fact that both programs are certified by the National Court Reporters Association.
SUNY College of Technology at Alfred stands out for having the highest graduation rate of all five schools on our list. The percentage of students that graduated from SUNY College of Technology at Alfred in 2015 was almost twice that of the second- highest school.
Accreditation:
Location:
10 Upper College Drive,Founded in 1940, Bryan University offers students the opportunity to pursue an associate degree in stenography. Among the many online degrees that can be completed at the school, this one could lead to work in many different environments, such as deposition firms, federal and state courts or legislator offices. Bryan University helps make it easy for students to learn online, making all of the following accessible through its learning management system:
Immediate feedback also can be provided through the online dashboard. To connect with students in other ways, adults in the stenography degree program can join the Bryan University Facebook App. The school's online library provides access to databases, electronic books and more. Bryan University is included on this list of featured online colleges for court reporting because of its open admission policy and the fact that it awarded more than 11 percent of its degrees specifically in the field in 2015- 16.
Accreditation:
Location:
3580 Wilshire Boulevard,With more than 40 years of experience providing court-reporting instruction, this school may be right for students who want a program with an established history. Actually, there are several programs that students can pursue at the school. These include its:
Brown College of Court Reporting requires students to pass speed tests and accuracy levels before progressing to the next level. To make online learning accessible, the school uses platforms such as Blackboard Collaborate, Moodle and RealTime Coach, which is a tool designed specifically for court-reporting learning. Brown College of Court Reporting was a shoo-in for inclusion on this list: not only does the school award 100% of its degrees in court reporting (hardly surprising, considering the name,) but the school also has the second highest graduation rate and the highest admissions rate without an open admissions policy of any school on this list.
Accreditation:
Location:
1100 Spring Street, Suite 101,The College of Court Reporting Inc., or CCR, has been offering a court-reporting education to students since 1984. A total of three online court-reporting programs are available through this college, including:
Students in these programs can expect to build their skills in the three 'R' areas essential to court reporting - that is, Reading, wRiting and Repetition. The programs' students in class meet live online at least once a week with their instructor, but also have the opportunity to complete up to 18 hours of live or recorded speedbuilding classes each week. CCR has been approved by the National Court Reporters Association. The college follows an open admissions policy, which practically guarantees a spot for anyone in possession of a high school diploma or a GED certificate who is looking for an online college for court reporting.
Accreditation:
Location:
111 West 10th Street, Suite 111,Online colleges for court reporting are designed to educate students interested in doing this important work, but how do they do so? This section details the curriculum these schools may offer, as well as the career-relevant skills students might have learned by the time they complete their degrees.
Coursework for online court reporting programs can vary greatly depending on the school students enroll in. However, the following are some examples of classes that court reporting departments generally offer.
In order to be successful, court reporters must draw upon several different skills, many of which which can be learned or refined through online education for court reporting. The following are some of the abilities graduates may have when they finish their program and may benefit from as they enter the workforce.
In some states, people in the court reporting profession are required to obtain a certification to gain employment. Depending on the criteria established by the state, professionals may be able to satisfy the certification requirements by earning a credential from the following organizations:
The judiciary relies on many employees who do their work behind the scenes to guarantee the system runs smoothly. The care these professionals exhibit helps to ensure that information is correct and thorough, which leads to cases being adjudicated properly.
In order for juries, attorneys and judges to review the facts of a case, an accurate account of the proceedings must be created. The judicial system relies on court reporters to create transcripts of depositions, trials and administrative hearings, which entails specific duties such as capturing the dialogue of court cases, proving information about speaker's nonverbal communication, proofreading transcripts to ensure they're free of typographical errors and proving copies of transcripts to people involved in a case.
Those who work as court reporters must be familiar with technologies like Chase Software Solutions Court Reporting Software, OMTI ReporterBase and Acclaim Legal Acclaim DepoManage. In some states, professionals may be required to obtain a license in order to enter the field.
Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers are required to locate a variety of documents, including insurance, mortgage and real estate records. This often includes obtaining maps from county surveyors, tax records from assessors' offices and property records from title plants. Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers are also likely to help prepare statements for real estate closings, assess fees for the registration of property-related documents, and summarize documents like trust deeds and mortgages.
Those employed in this field typically need to have strong communication skills through speaking, listening and writing, in addition to critical thinking and time management abilities. They also need technological proficiency because they may be required to use systems such as Property Insight TitlePoint, Data Trace Title IQ, Microsoft Access and Landtitle USA.
Judges are the face of authority in the courtroom, but those in judicial law clerk careers do the behind-the-scenes work that helps them maintain their influence. This job involves conducting research on documents, judicial opinions, cases and briefs; checking on the progress of a case by reviewing the court docket; scheduling judges' appointments; informing judges of new developments in the law; preparing briefs, statements of case issues and legal memoranda; and writing and editing judicial citations, opinions and decisions.
In order to perform the duties of this job, professionals must have strong reading, listening, critical-thinking, decision- making and monitoring skills. Workers are also expected to be reliable, take initiative and maintain integrity as they do their job.