Best Paralegal programs in Ohio, ranked by enrollment
Assist lawyers by investigating facts, preparing legal documents, or researching legal precedent.
18 schools in Ohio run programs that feed this job, graduating 347 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,420 in Ohio across about 9,270 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Ohio that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Ohio that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Ohio (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 Ohio page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Legal Assistant/Paralegalmain feeder CIP 22.0302In Ohio → | 286 | 82.4% | 16 | $37,542 | $25,166 |
| 2 | Legal Studiesmain feeder CIP 22.0000In Ohio → | 61 | 17.6% | 4 | $39,558 | $25,252 |
Top 18 schools in Ohio
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 6 of the 18 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH Public · 2 feeder programs | 130 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $45,549 | 75% | — | 85% |
| 2 | University of Cincinnati - Clermont College Batavia, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 47 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 24% | — | — |
| 3 | Cuyahoga Community College District Cleveland, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 31% | — | — |
| 4 | Columbus State Community College Columbus, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 28% | — | — |
| 5 | Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $38,981 | 64% | — | 86% |
| 6 | Ohio University - Main Campus Athens, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Legal Studies | — | 65% | — | 85% |
| 7 | University of Toledo Toledo, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $35,554 | 57% | — | 92% |
| 8 | Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Cincinnati, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 16% | — | — |
| 9 | Sinclair Community College Dayton, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 41% | — | — |
| 10 | Stautzenberger College - Maumee Maumee, OH Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $35,289 | 55% | $21,788 | — |
| 11 | Youngstown State University Youngstown, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 50% | — | 84% |
| 12 | Lakeland Community College Kirtland, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 24% | — | — |
| 13 | Mount St. Joseph University Cincinnati, OH Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 2 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 56% | $15,357 | 59% |
| 14 | Owens Community College Perrysburg, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 35% | — | — |
| 15 | Tiffin University Tiffin, OH Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Legal Studies | — | 40% | $24,126 | 80% |
| 16 | University of Northwestern Ohio Lima, OH Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 54% | $19,592 | — |
| 17 | Bryant & Stratton College - Parma Parma, OH Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $30,998 | 19% | $15,356 | — |
| 18 | Herzing University - Akron Akron, OH Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | $33,315 | 19% | $22,849 | 95% |
All 18 schools in Ohio
Every school in Ohio 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Cincinnati - Main Campus | Cincinnati | Public | 130 | 2 |
| University of Cincinnati - Clermont College | Batavia | Public | 47 | 1 |
| Cuyahoga Community College District | Cleveland | Public | 30 | 1 |
| Columbus State Community College | Columbus | Public | 23 | 1 |
| Kent State University at Kent | Kent | Public | 19 | 1 |
| Ohio University - Main Campus | Athens | Public | 17 | 1 |
| University of Toledo | Toledo | Public | 16 | 1 |
| Cincinnati State Technical and Community College | Cincinnati | Public | 15 | 1 |
| Sinclair Community College | Dayton | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Stautzenberger College - Maumee | Maumee | Private for-profit | 13 | 1 |
| Youngstown State University | Youngstown | Public | 9 | 1 |
| Lakeland Community College | Kirtland | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Mount St. Joseph University | Cincinnati | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 2 |
| Owens Community College | Perrysburg | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Tiffin University | Tiffin | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 1 |
What paralegals and legal assistants earn in Ohio
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $62,890. Ohio pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Ohio
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 Ohio
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 Ohio.
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 286 degrees in Ohio in 2024-25, 82.4% 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 347 people a year in Ohio.
How much do paralegals and legal assistants earn in Ohio?+
The median is $60,420 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 3.9% 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 Ohio?+
18 institutions in Ohio 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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