Best Paralegal programs in Minnesota, ranked by enrollment
Assist lawyers by investigating facts, preparing legal documents, or researching legal precedent.
9 schools in Minnesota run programs that feed this job, graduating 246 people a year. The job pays a median of $75,570 in Minnesota across about 7,400 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Minnesota that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Minnesota that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Minnesota (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Minnesota page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Legal Assistant/Paralegalmain feeder CIP 22.0302In Minnesota → | 213 | 86.6% | 9 | $37,542 | $25,166 |
| 2 | Legal Studiesmain feeder CIP 22.0000In Minnesota → | 33 | 13.4% | 2 | $39,558 | $25,252 |
Top 9 schools in Minnesota
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 9 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rasmussen University - Minnesota St. Cloud, MN Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 80 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $34,421 | 53% | $19,944 | — |
| 2 | Hamline University Saint Paul, MN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 71 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $43,918 | 60% | $20,981 | 88% |
| 3 | North Hennepin Community College Brooklyn Park, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 39 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $48,960 | 22% | — | — |
| 4 | Inver Hills Community College Inver Grove Heights, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $49,694 | 24% | — | — |
| 5 | Bethany Lutheran College Mankato, MN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 14 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 55% | $16,550 | 39% |
| 6 | Lake Superior College Duluth, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 42% | — | — |
| 7 | Alexandria Technical & Community College Alexandria, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 60% | — | — |
| 8 | Minnesota State Community and Technical College Fergus Falls, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 47% | — | — |
| 9 | Herzing University - Minneapolis St. Louis Park, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $39,952 | 47% | $16,383 | 94% |
All 9 schools in Minnesota
Every school in Minnesota with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rasmussen University - Minnesota | St. Cloud | Private for-profit | 80 | 1 |
| Hamline University | Saint Paul | Private not-for-profit | 71 | 2 |
| North Hennepin Community College | Brooklyn Park | Public | 39 | 1 |
| Inver Hills Community College | Inver Grove Heights | Public | 24 | 1 |
| Bethany Lutheran College | Mankato | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 2 |
| Lake Superior College | Duluth | Public | 12 | 1 |
| Alexandria Technical & Community College | Alexandria | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Minnesota State Community and Technical College | Fergus Falls | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Herzing University - Minneapolis | St. Louis Park | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
What paralegals and legal assistants earn in Minnesota
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $62,890. Minnesota pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Minnesota
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Paralegals and Legal Assistants page.
How to become a Paralegal
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Associate's degree
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Minnesota
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Paralegals and Legal Assistants2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 22.0000Legal Studies
- 22.0302Legal Assistant/Paralegal
Common questions
Answers for people weighing paralegals and legal assistants programs in Minnesota.
What degree do you need to become a Paralegal?+
Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Legal Assistant/Paralegal, which awarded 213 degrees in Minnesota in 2024-25, 86.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Paralegal?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Legal Support Services, Non-Professional Legal Studies. Together they graduate about 246 people a year in Minnesota.
How much do paralegals and legal assistants earn in Minnesota?+
The median is $75,570 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 20.2% above the U.S. median of $62,890. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for paralegals and legal assistants growing?+
BLS projects a +0.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 39,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Minnesota?+
9 institutions in Minnesota reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do paralegals and legal assistants work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Paralegal, Legal Clerk, Legal Assistant, Paralegal Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 23-2011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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