Approved by the American Bar Association in 1998, the Center for Advanced Legal Studies in Houston, Texas, specializes exclusively in paralegal education. It offers a 30-semester hour paralegal certificate for students who have previously earned a bachelor's degree. The certificate program is approximately seven months for full-time students. It also offers a 62-semester hour Associate of Applied Science in paralegal studies. The associate degree program is approximately 15 months for full-time students.
The Minnesota Paralegal Institute in Minnetonka, Minnesota, is an independent private school. It offers only one program, an accelerated post-undergraduate paralegal certificate. The full-time day program, offered in the fall, summer and winter, is approximately four months long and provides 341 total contact hours. The part-time evening program, offered in the fall and winter, is about 11 months long and provides 328 total contact hours. Classes are limited to no more than 20 students each.
The Paralegal Institute at the Duquesne University School of Leadership and Professional Advancement in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offers paralegal certificates for applicants who have previously earned a bachelor's degree. The five concentrations offered are general practice, corporate law, civil litigation, estates and litigation technology. During the fall, winter and spring terms, the Institute offers classes only in the evening. Each class meets one evening per week for 11 weeks. The summer program is an intensive 12-week, 10-course daytime program, at the end of which students have earned a general practice paralegal certificate.
First approved by the American Bar Association in 1977 as the legal assistant program at Mallinckrodt College of the North Shore, Loyola University Chicago established its Institute for Paralegal Studies as a continuation of that program in 1991. It offers a 24 credit hour post-baccalaureate certificate in paralegal studies or a Bachelor of Arts in managerial arts and leadership with a certificate in paralegal studies. It also offers a non-degree admission to complete individual coursework for those who already hold a paralegal certificate.