Court Reporting

Court Reporting:

The purpose of the Court Reporting program is to prepare students for employment as machine shorthand free-lance court reporters and/or official court reporters. It involves writing verbatim (word-for-word) testimony and producing transcripts of such testimony. Besides court and deposition work, Court Reporters can use their verbatim skills to work with the deaf and hard-of-hearing (CART - Communication Access Realtime translation) in classrooms and provide captioning for television.

The Court Reporting program prepares students to use machine shorthand to record:

Examination testimony in trials and discovery purposes before trial
Judge's charge to the jury
Motions
Hearings
Sworn statements
Multi-voice testimony
Meetings and seminars
And to provide captioning for the hearing-impaired.

The Court Reporting course at Atlantic Technical Center offers the latest technology in computer-aided transcription and writing realtime; i.e., the ability to have an instantaneous translation of what is being said by the speakers by projecting the works onto a television screen for the benefit of the hearing impaired or onto computer monitors for the benefit of the trial participants.

A court reporting career, including broadcast captioners, offers an independent lifestyle, prestige, and flexibility along with a substantial earning potential.

The Court Reporting program at Atlantic Technical Center offers field trips to:

The courthouse to see an ongoing trial
A law library
Offices of a court reporting firm

An internship experience is also part of the program, so that when the student reporter is writing 200 words per minute, he or she will have the opportunity to sit in on trials and depositions with a working reporter.

Completion Time:
The length of the full program is 2850 hours (approx. 28 months).

Industry Certification & State Credential Exams

Completing students will be eligible to take State of Florida Ready to Work.

College Credit Transfer Opportunity and / or Advanced Credit:

Upon completion of the program and meeting eligibility requirements, students may be awarded up to 27 college credits by Broward College toward an A.S. or A.A.S. Degree in Industrial Management Technology.

Estimated Costs (based on 1 FULL year of documented Florida residency):

Tuition & Fees $7,945
Testing Fee 10

Books and Supplies (approx.) 2,272

Approx. Total $10,227

This program is approved by the National Court Reporters Association

Online Opportunities Available