For nearly 50 years students at Brown College of Court Reporting (open since 1972) in Atlanta have learned to be the quickest, the best and the most accurate court reporters in the whole country. Grads logged live legal proceedings and even did closed captioning for television.
This week as new students prepared to start their courses, they learned the school was canceling courses for incoming students.
“The director put out an email on Friday that the school would not be accepting any new students and that more information would be forthcoming,” said student Phyillis Watson. Watson is set to graduate soon with stenography and voice writing skills certifications.
Phyillis learned the bad news from friends who had just applied for classes this fall that the school would actually be closing soon.
“Friends started calling current students saying what did you refer me to this school for when they’re going to close,” Phyllis recalled.
Why is the School Closing
School leaders said they found out within the last week from the owners in Chicago.
“It literally was short notice,” said Carlette Jennings, the director of admissions at Brown College. “When I learned was literally when our ownership told us about it so they’re not wrong. It was short notice and it’s disappointing. It’s disappointing to all of us.”
They blame the move on low-enrollment, a growing problem with court reporting schools across the country. We have discussed this several times on CourtScribes. Brown currently has about 160 students and it’s the only accredited court reporting school in the whole state.
“I think people have mistakenly decided for themselves that this is no longer a viable career, but you still need someone in charge of the record,” Jennings said. “ We cannot give that over to cameras and microphones. The legal record, the judicial record is too important. You need some human being who is taking care of the equipment, who is proof-reading the record who is making sure everything is correct, verbatim,” she went on.
The National Court Reporter’s Association noted that just five years ago there were 60 approved schools in the United States and Canada. With Brown College’s closing, that number will dwindle down to just 24.
Current students tell us they are concerned, but the school says their classes will continue as planned this year.
New students will get assistance with other schools in other states. School officials say any admission related fees are being refunded. The next closest NCRA-approved schools are in Florida and Alabama.
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