A paralegal is defined by the American Bar Association (ABA) as "a person, qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible." National American University offers degree programs in both the Associate of Applied Science and the Bachelor of Science in Paralegal Studies. The Paralegal Studies degree provides students with the technical knowledge of a law office applications and the substantive legal knowledge to be a critical part of a legal team. The programs offered at the Rapid City and Sioux Falls campuses are separately approved by the American Bar Association. The program offered in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, including the Bloomington campus, Brooklyn Center campus, Burnsville campus, and Roseville campus, is separately approved by the ABA.

Students in some programs may be required to attend classes at different locations or take online classes.