Building Student Enrollment: Reversing the Student Shortage National Court Reporters Association August 2004

Student Enrollment (% Change): A historical look at the decade-long decline in student enrollment.

Efforts to Reverse Trend NCRA developed its Education Initiative to attack the inadequate number of realtime reporters to meet current demand and the inadequate number of students entering reporter education programs to supply future needs.

Tactics Used for Reversal Student Recruitment Modernize Curriculum and Teaching Methods Direct Assistance to Schools

The Federal Initiative The Federal Initiative began in 2000 and has proven to be a tremendous success with $10.5 million in federal funding obtained for reporter training programs in the past four years.

The Federal Initiative In 2003, we obtained $675,000 for 3 schools In 2002, we obtained $3.575 million in grant money for 6 schools In 2001, we obtained $5.75 million in grant money for 14 schools In 2000, we obtained $500,000 for a pilot/demonstration program at the University of Mississippi

The Federal Initiative NCRA is currently assisting 40 reporter-training programs with earmarks to seek funding for next year’s budget.

We Haven’t Stopped There NCRA has been lobbying to pursue passage of the Training for Realtime Writers Act (S.480 and H.R. 970) to obtain $60 million federal funding over three years for current students and veteran reporters looking to enhance their realtime training capacity.

What Does This Funding Have to Do With Freelancers/Officials? Legislative mandate for captioning and CART creates legal basis for federal funding Variety of career options makes realtime more attractive to students Increased number of realtime writers will benefit all sectors of the profession

Turning the Corner NCRA’s efforts are beginning to reverse some of the negative trends of the past few years. Enrollments at NCRA-approved programs are up by almost 25 percent.

How We’ve Gotten There Improved the quality of realtime reporter education programs by training school faculty onsite and at Teachers’ Workshops Prepared three online seminars for schools on how to improve their recruiting activities Conducted a free one-day seminar for schools on recruiting tactics Developed a complete package of materials for any school interested in starting a reporting program

How We’ve Gotten There (cont.) Placed hundreds of career articles in newspapers and magazines Worked closely with the Bureau of Labor Statistics to ensure the description in the Occupational Outlook Handbook is accurate Placed print advertisements in national magazines and five national cable TV channels, including CNN, which has resulted in more than 11,000 leads on prospective students Offered an online community of support through the Virtual Mentors Program

Summit on Student Education Debuting this Fall, NCRA will bring the best minds within the profession together for a Summit on Student Education.

Summit on Student Education Enhance the quality and quantity of students entering and completing their education Improve theories Elevate the academic standards of schools, regardless of specialties taught Increase apprenticeships and other programs to ease the transition from school to work Increase our understanding as to why students hit plateaus

For more information on NCRA’s efforts to combat the issue of student shortages contact