The Blackstone Career Institute, based in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...

, and founded in 1890, offers distance education programs and home study programs, specializing in courses students can use to study at home and/or take online to advance their careers. Training includes courses that prepare a student for a career as a paralegal or legal assistant, medical transcription

Medical transcription

Medical transcription, also known as MT, is an allied health profession, which deals in the process of transcription, or converting voice-recorded reports as dictated by physicians and/or other healthcare professionals, into text format.-History:...

ist, medical biller (billing) and coder (coding), medical office assistant, or dental office assistant.

Licensing and Accreditation

The Blackstone Career Institute is privately licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education

Pennsylvania Department of Education

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are directed by Pennsylvania's Secretary of Education, Gerald L. Zahorchak...

¹ and accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council

Distance Education and Training Council

The Distance Education and Training Council is a non-profit national educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of distance education institutions.- History :...

 (DETC)², Washington, D.C., and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association dedicated to educational excellence and improvement through peer evaluation and accreditation...

³. The Blackstone Career Institute is recognized as an accredited school by the U.S. Department of Education⁴.

Academic Offerings

Blackstone Career Institute offers home study training and online courses with degrees in the following areas:

• Legal Assistant and Paralegal

• Medical Transcription

• Medical Billing and Coding

• Medical Office Assistant

• Dental Office Assistant

Blackstone was the pioneer in offering legal training by distance learning. Founded in 1890, the Institute was the first to utilize Modern American Law, first published in 1916. The text was considered a reference in the law profession, and was cited as an authority by the Wisconsin Supreme Court by in the case of Dingman vs. Hillbery, 149 Western 761.

Student Services

Depending on learning style, a student may choose correspondence-based instruction or electronic instruction (online courses) through the Blackstone Online Student Center.

Footnotes

1. Pennsylvania Department of Education (http://www.pde.state.pa.us/)

2. Distance Education and Training Council (http://www.detc.org/)

3. Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools (http://www.middlestates.org/)

4. U.S. Department of Education (http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml)

External links

• Blackstone Career Institute: http://blackstone.edu

• Blackstone Paralegal Training and Advanced Law Courses: http://blackstonelaw.com

• American Academy of Independent Studies: http://www.123ce.com/

• U.S. Department of Education directory: http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/

• Pennsylvania Department of Education Educational Entities: http://edna.ed.state.pa.us/EntitySearch.asp