CCAC to offer free introductory course for court reporting

If you’re looking for a new career path, it’s hard to top an education program with a 100% placement rate.

Those earning certification of a two-year associate’s degree in the Community College of Allegheny County’s court reporting program also earn an average starting salary of around $40,000, according to CCAC professor Mary Beth Johnson.

“If we graduate 10 court reporters, we have jobs for at least those 10,” Johnson said earlier this summer. “And those businesses are calling, asking when they’re going to graduate and get started.”

Next month, CCAC will offer a free introductory course for anyone interested in learning more about court reporting.

The virtual course will include six two-hour sessions showing the basics and options available in the court reporting and captioning industry, which has grown exponentially during the pandemic as more events began taking place virtually.

The sessions will take place beginning Nov. 6. All materials, including a textbook and stenography machine, will be provided.

Krista Gush, 27, of Monessen, works as a court reporter in the Westmoreland County Courthouse and said it has been a dependable way to build a career.

“One thing in my life I’m never worried about is work,” she said. “There’s plenty of it.”

Johnson said the first generation of court reporters she trained at CCAC is now reaching retirement age. According to a 2014 study commissioned by the National Court Reporters Association, 70% of stenographers in the U.S. were 46 years or older in 2013, and the number of new stenographers entering the market has not kept pace with the number of retirees.

To register, visit ProjectSteno.org/Students. For more information, contact Johnson at mjohnson@ccac.edu or 412-237-2748.