Legal Support

Types of Degrees Legal Support Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many legal support services graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Graduate Certificate	356
Master’s Degree	105

What Legal Support Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, legal support majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Legal Support Majors

Legal Support majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Legal Support Majors

A major in legal support prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Legal Support Majors

A major in legal support will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Can You Do With a Legal Support Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with legal support:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Court Reporters	3.6%	$57,150
Legal Support Workers	3.7%	$58,930
Paralegals and Legal Assistants	14.6%	$50,940
Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers	4.3%	$47,130

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Legal Support?

This major is dominated by women with about 74% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of legal support majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	3
Black or African American	24
Hispanic or Latino	19
White	42
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	14

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Legal Support, too. About 2.9% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Legal Support

Some degrees associated with legal support may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for legal support careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	15.2%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	20.0%
Some College Courses	12.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	31.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	20.1%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.3%

Online Legal Support Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	306	71
Certificate (2-4 Years)	19	2
Associate’s Degree	532	119
Bachelor’s Degree	22	5
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	5	2
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Legal Support

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to legal support.

Major	Number of Grads
Law	35,647
Legal Research	11,141
Non-Professional General Legal Studies	4,745
Legal Professions (Other)	2,229

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.