Best degree programs for Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners, ranked by enrollment
2 college programs and 32 schools train Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $72,420 median wage, 12,870 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
2 college programs at 32 schools train court reporters and simultaneous captioners, graduating 446 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Court Reporting and Captioning/Court Reporter. The job pays a median of $72,420 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About court reporters and simultaneous captioners
Use verbatim methods and equipment to capture, store, retrieve, and transcribe pretrial and trial proceedings or other information. Includes stenocaptioners who operate computerized stenographic captioning equipment to provide captions of live or prerecorded broadcasts for hearing-impaired viewers.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
2 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 22.0303 | 431 | 96.6% | 32 | $37,542 | $25,166 |
| 2 | CIP 10.0204 | 15 | 3.4% | 2 | $21,634 | $20,000 |
Top 32 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What court reporters and simultaneous captioners earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $116,020 | 1,400 | 0.93× | 7 | 178 |
| Texas | $110,080 | 1,270 | 1.09× | 6 | 109 |
| New Yorkmoderate | $101,990 | 1,400 | 1.75× | 3 | 32 |
| Ohiolimited | $67,330 | 340 | 0.73× | 2 | 24 |
| Floridalimited | $49,240 | 1,110 | 1.35× | 1 | 23 |
| Indianalimited | $54,740 | 890 | 3.37× | 1 | 19 |
| Wisconsinlimited | $65,640 | 60 | 0.23× | 2 | 10 |
| Arizonalimited | $77,770 | 70 | 0.27× | 1 | 9 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $65,100 | 670 | 1.33× | 1 | 9 |
| Minnesotalimited | $83,680 | 320 | 1.32× | 1 | 8 |
| Iowalimited | $93,810 | 160 | 1.27× | 1 | 7 |
| Washingtonlimited | $107,670 | 80 | 0.27× | 1 | 6 |
| Alabamalimited | $67,340 | 350 | 1.98× | 1 | 5 |
| Mississippilimited | $67,300 | 40 | 0.38× | 1 | 4 |
| Illinoislimited | $75,890 | 770 | 1.52× | 2 | 2 |
| North Dakotalimited | $70,540 | 60 | 1.73× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Record verbatim proceedings of courts, legislative assemblies, committee meetings, and other proceedings, using computerized recording equipment, electronic stenograph machines, or stenomasks.
- Proofread transcripts for correct spelling of words.
- Ask speakers to clarify inaudible statements.
- Provide transcripts of proceedings upon request of judges, lawyers, or the public.
- Transcribe recorded proceedings in accordance with established formats.
- Log and store exhibits from court proceedings.
- File and store shorthand notes of court session.
- File a legible transcript of records of a court case with the court clerk's office.
Skills
- Active Listening4.0
- Writing3.4
- Reading Comprehension3.1
- Monitoring3.0
- Speaking3.0
- Critical Thinking2.5
- Active Learning2.4
- Learning Strategies2.0
Knowledge areas
- English Language4.8
- Administrative4.6
- Computers and Electronics4.1
- Law and Government3.9
- Customer and Personal Service3.5
- Administration and Management3.1
Abilities
- Speech Recognition4.1
- Oral Comprehension4.1
- Written Expression4.0
- Written Comprehension3.9
- Near Vision3.9
- Oral Expression3.9
Core activities
- Documenting/Recording Information4.8
- Working with Computers4.6
- Getting Information4.3
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge4.2
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates3.9
- Processing Information3.8
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Court Reporter
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 10.0204Voice Writing Technology/Technician
- 22.0303Court Reporting and Captioning/Court Reporter
- 22.0304Court Interpreter(no graduates reported)
- 22.0305Scopist(no graduates reported)
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Court Reporter?+
Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Court Reporting and Captioning/Court Reporter, which awarded 431 degrees in 2024-25, 96.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Court Reporter?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Legal Support Services, Audiovisual Communications Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 446 people a year.
How much do court reporters and simultaneous captioners earn?+
The median is $72,420 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $42,130 at the 10th percentile to $130,560 at the 90th. 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 court reporters and simultaneous captioners growing?+
BLS projects a -0.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 1,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
32 institutions 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 court reporters and simultaneous captioners work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Court Reporter, Court Stenographer, Official Court Reporter, Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-3092.
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
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card