Paralegal Studies: B.A.
Earn a Bachelor of Arts in Paralegal Studies
Paralegal Studies Program
What is this program?
This program helps students become skilled paralegals. A paralegal is someone who helps lawyers with their work. They do important legal tasks, but they work under a lawyer's guidance.
To be a paralegal in California, you must:
- Work for a lawyer, law firm, government office, or company
- Do legal work that a lawyer gives you
- Work under a lawyer's supervision
This is an American Bar Association-approved program.
What will you learn?
This program teaches you many useful skills:
- How to help with court cases
- How to find and organize information stored on computers
- How to prepare for trials
- How to manage legal projects
- How to protect private information and keep it safe
- How to do research using computers and databases
- How to handle contracts
- How to make sure companies follow the rules
- How to investigate legal matters
- Legal ethics (what is right and wrong in legal work)
You will also get hands-on experience through clinics and work opportunities.
Special Benefits
After finishing this program, you can take the NALA Certified Paralegal Exam. This test shows employers that you have the skills to be a professional paralegal.
Important Note
This program does NOT train you to be a lawyer. Paralegals help lawyers, but they cannot practice law on their own.
Degree Pathway
Paralegal Studies: Bachelor of Arts
To complete the Bachelor of Arts in Paralegal Studies, students must:
You need one of these:
- An Associate's degree from a paralegal program approved by the American Bar Association (ABA)
- OR a Certificate from an ABA-approved paralegal program PLUS any Associate's or Bachelor's degree
Note: The school must be in the U.S. and properly accredited.
You must complete general education requirements. You can choose from several options:
- Cal-GETC pattern
- CSU-GE Breadth pattern
- IGETC pattern
- Santa Ana College Associate Degree requirements (at least 27 units)
Talk to a counselor to see which option works best for you.
Complete at least 9 units of advanced general education classes.
Complete all the required upper-level paralegal classes listed in the catalog.
You must get a "C" or better in all upper-level major classes.
You need at least 120 total units for your degree. Any extra classes must be college-level courses.
You must take at least 12 units of upper-level classes at Santa Ana College.
You must finish all lower-level requirements before you can graduate with your Bachelor's degree.