I went to University of San Diego for my paralegal certificate. It took 8 months and costed $7,000. It really just depends where you go! You're never too old to do something!
I was able to go through Jeff State here in Alabama. I’m 41 and I’ve dreamed of doing this for years but was waiting for my son to graduate highschool. My classes start a week from this Monday. I went through their fast track program and took the placement test for scholarship qualifications and I don’t have to pay anything. It’s all covered!
It's interesting to have different outlooks from different people and people from different places/countries. I personally am pursuing a Paralegal program and have no intention of going to Law School, but I did think about it for sure. For me, it was a go-back-to-school straight after my Master's degree attempt in Literature which I didn't like and realised I didn't want to be a College teacher. I had students debts, no savings, and had never wanted to be a lawyer. I used to be a PoliSci girl in College and went back to it but thought geez, again another non-professional degree. I'm aiming towards public service, but what if I don't get any job opportunity because my degree doesn't really train me how to do any actual jobs (but I love studying it because I'm a philosopher at heart and not a technical hands-on program type of person.) So I made a deal with myself that I'd get a professional diploma too if I was going to invest in a second Bachelor's Degree like Literature (PoliSci). That's what took me to Paralegal because I started a Law Certificate as a Minor in my PoliSci Major (I guess the equivalent to a Legal Studies program but it's called a Law Certificate and is a 1-year stand alone program given by the Faculty of Law where I go.) I liked it but not enough to make me dream about being a lawyer or anything. I absolutely hate my Paralegal program (which I knew I would because I hate practice based programs and am with young College kids and the program seems very private sector and civil law oriented when I actually just want to do public service or Criminal Law and now I'm just drafting wills and doing so much notary work which I hate. Anyway. I want and need the diploma and I'm near the end, so I'll finish it, but I hate it. ) I also work as a court clerk at the Courthouse of my city and I love it. It also confirmed that I would never want to be a lawyer, so the "what ifs" that I had when I applied for Law School once and my second doubts about my hard decision to not go and still pursuie PoliSci along with Paralegal really went away. Althought I know I would love studying Law and being in Law School (a lot more than Paralegal College), I know that the job after that is not something that I want, which is the opposite of my actual diploma that I hate, but the job after (which has actually nothing to do with the program/diploma) I like and for that I need that damn diploma. haha But I like the job, I like watching trials, having the accused being brought in front of me (it's kind of exciting as opposed to working at a desk/computer all day long). I also really like to not have one boss and not be tied to a specific lawyer. In the courtroom whoever the judge is, is my boss. When I'm back at the office on the 5th floor, my boss is an older/more experienced court clerk along with 3 team leader who are there to answer your questions, help you and spend their days organizing court schedules and going through all our files for "quality control" and will let you know if a mistake was made or something is missing from your probation order draft or whatever before bringing it to the registry. It's their job, so you're not bothering them and it's less intimidating than being told my a judge or a lawyer that you made a mistake. Also, it comes with all the good social benefits of working for the government/Ministry of Justice, even though the salary is not as good. But I like running around the courthouse with my cart full of files and meeting a hundreds of attorneys, judges, correctional agents, going to the spooky second basement to go get or bring back exhibits from the exhibits room and chatting with everyone. And wearing the long black robe and feeling super important 🤣(although you get sick of wearing it very quickly. It's only exciting at the beginning. It's bulky and hot.) Also the difference is that where I live it's a full 3 year full-time College program. Law School is a 3 year University program (undergrad, Civil Law B.LL. and not a graduate program of Common Law J.D.) ps: I'm in/from Montréal, Québec, Canada.
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