Court Reporter Courses
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts strong job opportunities for court reporters with the right career training. Though the industry is not growing quickly, fewer people are entering it, so there may be more jobs than there are qualified applicants. The best part is, a highly qualified and motivated court reporter has the potential to
earn six figures, according to
Forbes magazine.
How to Become a Court Reporter
You can earn your diploma in court reporting through distance learning or online courses. A typical court reporting curriculum includes coursework in legal terminology, increasing your transcribing speed, and court and real-time reporting. To land a job working for the government, speed training in transcribing is essential. The government requires a minimum transcription speed of 225 words per minute.
Penn Foster Career School
Court Reporter
Penn Foster Career School offers over 80 affordable, self-paced, career-focused distance education programs, all designed to help you advance your career. Programs areas include business, education, technology, and more.
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Court Reporter
Fast Facts:
- Number of court reporters in 2004: 18,000
- Top employers:
- State and local government: 60%
- Self-employed: 13%
- Average salary for court reporters: $42,920
- Related career choices:
- Closed captioner
- Internet streaming text transcriber
- Medical transcriptionist
The amount of money a court reporter earns depends on several criteria, including your experience and certification level and the difficulty of the reporting job. Court reporters employed by state or local governments earn a salary plus additional money for every transcribed page they produce. Freelance court reporters usually receive a flat fee per job, plus a per-page transcription rate.
Many people with this career training do not actually work as court reporters. Instead, they use a method of court reporting called Communications Access Real-Time Translation, or CART, for other applications. In CART, stenotype machines can be hooked up to a computer, so transcripts are available immediately, without the need for translation. This technique is useful for closed captioning, translating for deaf or hearing impaired students in classrooms, and for transcribing business meetings.
