How Can I Find the Best Court Reporter School for Me?
To ensure you get the appropriate training for a court reporting career, it is vital that you not only find out what the requirements are in your state for certification of court reporters, but also find a school that is accredited, certified to prepare you for your career. It is also important to find out if the court reporter school is accredited by a legitimate accrediting body.
The National Court Reporters Association is an excellent resource for finding such schools. While the NCRA is not an accrediting agency, it has a reliable list of court reporting schools accredited by agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, by state. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics has noted that the NCRA has certified about 70 programs, all offering stenotyping, transcription and real-time reporting training. There are about 130 postsecondary vocational and technical schools offering training in court reporting, the Bureau notes.
However, a traditional campus isn’t always the best choice for people already in active careers, or people with a long commute to get there. One option is to call your accredited school of choice and ask if that school offers court reporting programs online. When choosing the best school, aspiring court reporters also need to find out if, on completion of the online program, they will have the academic skills and other requirements needed to hit the ground running, because online schools vary. Some online schools have classes that can earn you certain kinds of credit, but others offer the complete program rather than individual courses
You still need to research your online court reporting school to make sure it meets the proper accreditation criteria. Remember: online and traditional schools are evaluated by the same accrediting bodies. A good way to evaluate your online program is to see if your online course has the same content as onsite courses. Also, certain policies like attendance during required hours, grading methodology and testing should be the same as that of traditional court reporting schools. Don’t be afraid to ask about your instructors’ qualifications.
Finally, don’t forget courtreporter.com is also designed to connect you with the best online court reporting schools in the market today.
