Paralegal Studies - B.A.

Full Description

The Bachelor of Arts degree in Paralegal Studies combines a liberal arts background with law-related specialty courses to provide students with communication, critical reasoning and analytical skills; knowledge of the legal system; and practical hands-on experience.

The program prepares students for the Certified Paralegal exam from the National Association of Legal Assistants. Paralegals may not provide legal services directly to the public except as permitted by law.

Professional Licensure Disclosure

This program is designed to prepare students to sit for applicable licensure or certification in Ohio. If you plan to pursue licensure or certification in a state other than Ohio, please review state educational requirements for licensure or certification and contact information for state licensing boards at Kent State's website for professional licensure disclosure.

Admission Requirements

The university affirmatively strives to provide educational opportunities and access to students with varied backgrounds, those with special talents and adult students who graduated from high school three or more years ago.

First-Year Students on the Kent Campus: First-year admission policy on the Kent Campus is selective. Admission decisions are based upon cumulative grade point average, strength of high school college preparatory curriculum and grade trends. Students not admissible to the Kent Campus may be administratively referred to one of the seven regional campuses to begin their college coursework. For more information, visit the admissions website for first-year students.

First-Year Students on the Regional Campuses: First-year admission to Kent State’s campuses at Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas, as well as the Twinsburg Academic Center, is open to anyone with a high school diploma or its equivalent. For more information on admissions, contact the Regional Campuses admissions offices.

International Students: All international students must provide proof of English language proficiency (unless they meet specific exceptions) by earning a minimum 525 TOEFL score (71 on the Internet-based version), minimum 75 MELAB score, minimum 6.0 IELTS score or minimum 48 PTE Academic score, or by completing the ELS level 112 Intensive Program. For more information, visit the admissions website for international students.

Transfer Students: Students who have attended any other educational institution after graduating from high school must apply as undergraduate transfer students. For more information, visit the admissions website for transfer students.

Former Students: Former Kent State students or graduates who have not attended another college or university since Kent State may complete the reenrollment or reinstatement form on the University Registrar’s website.

Admission policies for undergraduate students may be found in the University Catalog's Academic Policies.

Some programs may require that students meet certain requirements before progressing through the program. For programs with progression requirements, the information is shown on the program's Coursework tab.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Analyze a legal problem as well as identify and evaluate alternative solutions.
2. Formulate logical solutions to problems and construct logical arguments in support of specific positions as well as evaluate solutions and arguments.
3. Determine which areas of law are relevant to a particular situation.
4. Apply principles of professional ethics to specific factual situations.
5. Identify interrelationships among cases, statutes, regulations and other legal authorities.
6. Apply recognized legal authority to a specific factual situation.
7. Analyze factual situations to determine when it is appropriate to apply exceptions to general legal rules.
8. Apply exceptions to general legal rules.
9. Distinguish evidentiary facts from other material and/or controlling facts.
10. Identify factual omissions and inconsistencies.

Program Requirements

Major Requirements

¹

Although required minimum hours for internship is 6 credit hours, it is recommended that students enroll in more than one internship.

²

A minimum C grade must be earned to fulfill the writing-intensive requirement.

Graduation Requirements

Foreign Language College Requirement, B.A.

Students pursuing the Bachelor of Arts degree in the College of Arts and Sciences must complete 14-16 credit hours of foreign language.¹
To complete the requirement, students need the equivalent of Elementary I and II in any language, plus one of the following options²:

1. Intermediate I and II of the same language
2. Elementary I and II of a second language
3. Any combination of two courses from the following list:

• Intermediate I of the same language
• ARAB 21401
• ASL 19401
• CHIN 25421
• MCLS 10001
• MCLS 20001
• MCLS 20091
• MCLS 21417
• MCLS 21420
• MCLS 22217
• MCLS 28403
• MCLS 28404

¹

All students with prior foreign language experience should take the foreign language placement test to determine the appropriate level at which to start. Some students may start beyond the Elementary I level and will complete the requirement with fewer credit hours and fewer courses. This may be accomplished by (1) passing a course beyond Elementary I through Intermediate II level; (2) receiving credit through one of the alternative credit programs offered by Kent State University; or (3) demonstrating language proficiency comparable to Elementary II of a foreign language. When students complete the requirement with fewer than 14 credit hours and four courses, they will complete remaining credit hours with general electives.

²

Certain majors, concentrations and minors may require specific languages, limit the languages from which a student may choose or require coursework through Intermediate II. Students who plan to pursue graduate study may need particular language coursework.

Roadmap

This roadmap is a recommended semester-by-semester plan of study for this major. However, courses designated as critical (!) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation.

• Delivery:
  • In person
• Location:
  • Kent Campus

The B.A. degree in Paralegal Studies is approved by the American Bar Association (ABA).