Court Reporting major
Court Reporting: courses, careers, and where to study
Court Reporting trains you to capture and transcribe verbatim records of legal proceedings and live events, preparing you for state licensure or national certification as a reporter or captioner.
A Court Reporting program teaches the verbatim craft of recording and transcribing examinations, testimony, judicial orders, legal opinions, and other formal proceedings using print or electronic methods. Coursework centers on machine shorthand written on a stenotype keyboard, building speed and accuracy in real time, along with computer-aided transcription software that converts shorthand strokes into readable transcripts; some tracks also cover voice writing into a stenomask. Students learn legal and medical terminology, English grammar and punctuation for the record, transcript formatting, deposition and courtroom procedure, equipment operation, applicable regulations, and the professional standards and ethics that govern an impartial keeper of the record. Where Translation and Interpreting focuses on conveying meaning between two languages, this focuses on producing a complete, word-for-word written record of spoken English in real time, often under deadline.
Most students enter through a certificate or associate degree from an approved court reporting school and build the dictation speed that many programs and credentials require before sitting for a skills and written exam. Several states license or certify court reporters, and national credentials such as the Registered Professional Reporter are offered through professional associations; captioning and Communication Access Realtime Translation work for live broadcasts, classrooms, and accessibility services is a related path that draws on the same skills. Graduates work for trial and appellate courts, freelance deposition agencies, legislatures, broadcasters, and captioning providers, and many work as independent contractors. A program prepares you for the exam and the work rather than guaranteeing a job, and pay, caseloads, and demand vary by employer, region, certification, and experience.
In federal data for the closely related occupation of court reporters and simultaneous captioners, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 2024 median wage of $67,310 and projects employment to decline about 0.3% from 2024 to 2034; a postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education for that occupation. National figures are occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages or graduate outcomes.
Academic classification (CIP)
In the federal Classification of Instructional Programs, Court Reporting maps to CIP 22.0303, Court Reporting and Captioning/Court Reporter, within the LEGAL PROFESSIONS AND STUDIES family. The official definition:
A program that prepares individuals to record and transcribe examinations, testimony, judicial orders and instructions, legal opinions, and other formal proceedings via print or electronic methods. Includes instruction in legal terminology, legal transcription, shorthand, verbatim recording, equipment operation and procedures, applicable regulations, and professional standards and ethics.
Source: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 2020. View on nces.ed.gov
What credential Court Reporting is awarded as
Of the 202 Court Reporting credentials U.S. colleges reported conferring in 2023-24:
- Certificate59%120
- Associate40%81
- Bachelor's<1%1
CampusPin does not have enough states reporting this field to say whether the mix changes from state to state. See the full study.
Credentials conferred in 2023-24, U.S. Department of Education IPEDS completions. A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one, and this counts what was awarded rather than what a college currently offers.
What you'll study
- Machine shorthand written on a stenotype keyboard at conversational speed
- Stenotype theory and computer-aided transcription software workflows
- Legal terminology, courtroom procedure, and deposition practice
- Medical terminology for testimony and expert witnesses
- English grammar, punctuation, and transcript formatting for the official record
- Realtime writing and CART or captioning techniques for live events
- Professional standards, ethics, and the reporter's duty of impartiality
- Equipment operation, troubleshooting, and managing the record under deadline
Typical careers
- Court Reporter
- Broadcast Captioner
- CART Provider
- Freelance Deposition Reporter
- Legal Transcriptionist
- Scopist
Typical salary range: Early-career wages vary by employer, region, and experience (BLS, 2024 court reporters and simultaneous captioners median $67,310).Ranges are early-career estimates. Any BLS figure shown is the occupation-wide median across all experience levels, not a starting wage, and is informational only.
Related occupations
Occupations the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk associates with Court Reporting, with what each one pays and how many openings it is projected to average each year. Ordered by projected annual openings, largest first. Linked titles open the full CampusPin career page.
| Occupation | Median pay | Openings / yr | Projected change | Most entrants hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners | $67,310 | 1,700 | -0.3% | Postsecondary nondegree award |
Crosswalk: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), CIP 2020 to SOC 2018. Pay, openings and projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024 wages, Employment Projections). 1 of these 1 occupations report a median wage.
“Most entrants hold” is what BLS observes about people already working in the occupation. It is not a legal requirement, not an admission rule, and not a guarantee of entry. Studying Court Reporting does not guarantee any specific occupation, and many of these roles are entered from several different fields. Projected openings are a projection, not jobs promised.
The federal crosswalk associates only one occupation with Court Reporting. That is a statement about the field, not about its graduates: a breadth degree is not tied to a particular job, so the crosswalk has little to map. Graduates of this field work across many occupations, and what follows the degree depends far more on the skills and experience built alongside it.
Before you commit to a Court Reporting major
CampusPin does not rank programs. Use these prompts to pressure-test whether a specific Court Reporting program fits your goals, they are decision questions, not claims about any school.
Ask the Court Reporting department
- Which concentrations or specializations are offered, and which faculty lead them?
- What does the typical course sequence look like, and how much is required vs. elective?
- What labs, studios, clinical placements, or research opportunities are available to undergraduates?
- Is there a capstone, thesis, internship, or co-op requirement?
Ask current students & check the curriculum
- How heavy is the workload, and how accessible is the faculty?
- What internships or co-ops did you do, and where do recent graduates end up?
- Does the required curriculum actually match the careers listed above?
- How easy is it to add a minor, double major, or switch tracks later?
Find a Court Reporting program
CampusPin lists U.S. universities and community colleges by state, tuition, school size, acceptance rate, and campus setting, no account required.
Colleges that awarded the most Court Reporting credentials
Largest by credentials conferred in 2023-24. This measures the size of the graduating class, not quality, and it is not a ranking.
- Lamar State College-OrangeTX · 21
- Cuyahoga Community College DistrictOH · 19
- Plaza CollegeNY · 19
- College of MarinCA · 18
- Gadsden State Community CollegeAL · 15
- Del Mar CollegeTX · 14
- South Coast CollegeCA · 12
- Fox Valley Technical CollegeWI · 11
- SUNY College of Technology at AlfredNY · 10
- College of Court Reporting IncIN · 8
- Community College of Allegheny CountyPA · 8
- Anoka Technical CollegeMN · 6
Based on credentials this institution reported conferring in the federal IPEDS completions collection for 2023-24. It confirms the field was awarded that year, not that the program currently accepts students, and it covers only the fields CampusPin tracks. Confirm current offerings with the institution.
Where Court Reporting credentials were awarded
One state has a distinct enough set of Court Reporting colleges to be worth its own page.
Search Court Reporting schools by state
Related majors
Paralegal Studies
Paralegal Studies trains graduates to support attorneys with legal research, drafting, and case management, suiting detail-oriented students drawn to law without attending law school.
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice studies the institutions and practices of policing, courts, and corrections, preparing graduates for law enforcement, probation, corrections, and law school.
Pre-Law
Pre-Law isn't a major itself but a track, students major in any field while taking the courses, building the GPA, and earning the LSAT score for law school admission.
Translation and Interpreting
Translation and Interpreting prepares you to carry meaning accurately between languages, in writing and in speech, for legal, medical, business, and conference settings.
Communications
Communications studies how messages move through media, combining writing, public speaking, and media analysis with hands-on training in PR, journalism, broadcasting, or strategic communication.
Put this major in context
The salary above is an occupation-wide median from federal data, not a starting wage or a guarantee. These CampusPin guides and reports help you read it well, see where a Court Reporting degree can lead, and weigh it against cost and program quality.
Explore Arts, Design & Media careers
Median pay, job outlook, and the occupations this field covers.
How one major leads to many careers
Why a single Court Reporting degree can open more than one path, and how to read the occupations above.
Why a median wage is not a starting salary
How to read a BLS median, and why early-career pay usually sits below it.
When accreditation and licensure matter
How program accreditation and state licensure can shape a Court Reporting path before you enroll.
Does a pricier college pay off?
How college cost lines up with graduation and earnings, an association, not a ranking.
Does picking a major narrow your college list?
Across the federal completions data, most fields barely change which colleges are on the table. Which ones genuinely do.
Certificate or degree?
What credential a field is usually awarded as is mostly set by the field itself, not by the state, with a short list of exceptions.
How this guide is sourced
This is an editorial guide from the CampusPin Editorial Team. Career and wage figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages, and link to each career page. Program availability comes from CampusPin's free institution search; CampusPin does not assert that any specific school offers this exact major until that program data is verified. Last reviewed 2026-06-15. How CampusPin sources data · Report a correction.