Best Paralegal programs in North Carolina, ranked by enrollment
Assist lawyers by investigating facts, preparing legal documents, or researching legal precedent.
22 schools in North Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 318 people a year. The job pays a median of $57,500 in North Carolina across about 13,650 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in North Carolina that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in North Carolina that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in North Carolina (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 North Carolina page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Legal Assistant/Paralegalmain feeder CIP 22.0302In North Carolina → | 318 | 100.0% | 22 | $37,542 | $25,166 |
Top 22 schools in North Carolina
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 22 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Fear Community College Wilmington, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 34% | — | — |
| 2 | Guilford Technical Community College Jamestown, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 31% | — | — |
| 3 | Johnston Community College Smithfield, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $41,278 | 37% | — | — |
| 4 | Meredith College Raleigh, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $40,694 | 70% | $19,552 | 74% |
| 5 | Davidson - Davie Community College Thomasville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 46% | — | — |
| 6 | Central Piedmont Community College Charlotte, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $44,012 | 31% | — | — |
| 7 | Pitt Community College Winterville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 35% | — | — |
| 8 | Coastal Carolina Community College Jacksonville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 49% | — | — |
| 9 | Forsyth Technical Community College Winston-Salem, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 34% | — | — |
| 10 | South Piedmont Community College Polkton, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 38% | — | — |
| 11 | Wake Technical Community College Raleigh, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 33% | — | — |
| 12 | Western Piedmont Community College Morganton, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 49% | — | — |
| 13 | Central Carolina Community College Sanford, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 43% | — | — |
| 14 | Durham Technical Community College Durham, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 45% | — | — |
| 15 | Gaston College Dallas, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 63% | — | — |
| 16 | Fayetteville Technical Community College Fayetteville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 24% | — | — |
| 17 | Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute Hudson, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 45% | — | — |
| 18 | Carteret Community College Morehead City, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 49% | — | — |
| 19 | Vance - Granville Community College Henderson, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 53% | — | — |
| 20 | Wilson Community College Wilson, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 27% | — | — |
| 21 | Mitchell Community College Statesville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 28% | — | — |
| 22 | Southwestern Community College Sylva, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 53% | — | — |
All 22 schools in North Carolina
Every school in North Carolina 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Fear Community College | Wilmington | Public | 43 | 1 |
| Guilford Technical Community College | Jamestown | Public | 30 | 1 |
| Johnston Community College | Smithfield | Public | 30 | 1 |
| Meredith College | Raleigh | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 1 |
| Davidson - Davie Community College | Thomasville | Public | 25 | 1 |
| Central Piedmont Community College | Charlotte | Public | 21 | 1 |
| Pitt Community College | Winterville | Public | 21 | 1 |
| Coastal Carolina Community College | Jacksonville | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Forsyth Technical Community College | Winston-Salem | Public | 19 | 1 |
| South Piedmont Community College | Polkton | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Wake Technical Community College | Raleigh | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Western Piedmont Community College | Morganton | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Central Carolina Community College | Sanford | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Durham Technical Community College | Durham | Public | 7 | 1 |
| Gaston College | Dallas | Public | 7 | 1 |
What paralegals and legal assistants earn in North Carolina
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $62,890. North Carolina pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in North Carolina
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 North Carolina
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 North Carolina.
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 318 degrees in North Carolina in 2024-25, 100.0% 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 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Legal Support Services. Together they graduate about 318 people a year in North Carolina.
How much do paralegals and legal assistants earn in North Carolina?+
The median is $57,500 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.6% below 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 North Carolina?+
22 institutions in North Carolina reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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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