03/30/2023
For Immediate Release:
Pennsylvania Western University is announcing the approval of our new and improved Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies degree program. This option is available for current students as well as new admissions for Fall 2023. Here’s what this means for you.
New students to Pennsylvania Western University:
New students will have the opportunity to pursue a BA in Legal Studies as a program major. Such degree is foundational to several career fields, including, but not limited to: legal assistants and paralegals, business, law enforcement, government agencies and court systems, politics, and to pursuing a Juris Doctorate in Law School. The program will teach you the skills necessary to research law, become competent in legal topics, and to practice legal activities.
Pennsylvania Western University at Clarion offers a unique approach to teaching the law, by offering a legal clinic where actual cases are used. This not only provides hands-on experience to students, but benefits the community members whose cases are brought.
Students will explore topics in Legal Environment, Legal Writing, Legal Research, and Civil Litigation. You can also choose from several legal specialty courses including Real Estate, Estate Planning, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, and more. Finally, students will showcase their skills in Legal Studies Experience, which consists of an internship and several hands-on case experiences designed to build readiness for the legal world.
Current Students:
Students who already attend Pennsylvania Western University, but haven’t decided on a major, should consider our Legal Program. Additionally, this program is great for students who are seeking a secondary major. The law governs almost every aspect of day-to-day life, and there are few careers that exist where the knowledge and abilities learned from this program will not be useful.
For those who are in it for the money, the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (and several other sources) estimate that the employment rate of paralegals and legal assistants will grow by 14% over the next ten years, with an average yearly salary of between $31,000 and $61,500. For those seeking a J.D. at law school, this figure more than doubles, to an average of $145,000 per year.
The bigger benefit comes to those who are in it for the community. Almost no other profession (save those that are health-related) lets you go out and help the public with their day-to-day needs. People seeking legal assistance often aren’t doing so by choice, and are always happy when legal professionals can solve a problem that they have. Very few other professions can be described this way- in many cases, people’s lives and livelihoods depend on good legal representation, and PennWest is offering a program that creates such representation- as shown by our accreditation from the American Bar Association.
All classes in this program are offered in a live-remote, in-person, and recorded lecture form. Therefore, students are able to fit Legal Studies into any schedule, degree path, campus, and lifestyle.
I’m convinced- how do I enroll?
There are several ways to enroll in our Legal Studies program. For new students, the easiest is to declare Legal Studies as your program major upon applying, which can be done at www.pennwest.edu/apply or in-person at any of the four campuses (Clarion, California, Edinboro, and Venango). Students seeking to add or change an existing major to Legal Studies should contact Dr. Frank Shepard, Program Director, at [email protected] or by phone at 814-393-2626 to join. Please note that paralegals may not provide direct legal services to the public except as provided for by law.
