Those seeking a degree in court reporting should only consider schools accredited by the National Court Reporters Association. Court reporting schools should also be licensed by their Secretary of State and state educational board, or equivalent, and be approved by the U.S. Department of Education for student financial aid assistance. Contact the National Court Reporters Association to find a quality court reporting school near you.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects demand for court reporters to increase by 18 percent within the next decade. This means that qualified, licensed court reporters will have little or no difficulty finding employment. Court reporters may be certified by the National Court Reporters Association and the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers in a variety of disciplines such as electronic stenography, broadcast, real-time and media captioning, among others. Court reporters have flexible schedules, may work weekends or be on-call. On average court reporters earn $35,390 to $67,430.
Official court reporting utilizes Computer Aided Transcription systems, among others, to record court proceedings into verbatim transcripts. With this degree, reporters are qualified to work directly with the courts or as a freelance reporter. The Academy of Court Reporting and Technology in Cleveland and the Brown College of Court Reporting and Medical Transcription in Atlanta fully qualify their graduates to work in these disciplines.
For reporters seeking employment outside of the legal system, certification as a real-time and broadcast reporter offers many opportunities in the private sector. In addition to traditional live-television captioning, real-time reporters are also increasingly utilizing their skills online. With multiple campuses and classes available online, institutions like Bryan College offer accredited broadcast and real-time reporting programs for students everywhere.
Communication Access Real-Time Translation is a service provided to the hard-of-hearing, or those learning English as a second language. Typically, this certification is coupled with broadcast reporting for closed-captioning services for the disabled. Due to the specialized training involved, students should find schools like the Baton Rouge School of Court Reporting that offer this specific certification. There are also other options for nontraditional education. Court Reporting and Captioning at Home is a program that offers broadcast captioning and real-time translation instruction in a flexible, accredited correspondence format.