| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Private career school, fully online and self-paced; no campus |
| Office | 1011 Brookside Rd, Suite 300, Allentown, PA 18106 (administrative, no classes) |
| Credentials | Career diplomas in 10 programs; short certificate courses; advanced paralegal courses |
| Typical length | Average 4 to 12 months; up to 18 months from enrollment |
| Accreditation | DEAC, renewed January 2025 through January 2030; licensed by the Pennsylvania State Board of Private Licensed Schools |
| Federal aid | No; GI Bill and SpouseWorks accepted, and Army Credentialing Assistance for Pharmacy Technician |
| Owner | Direct Learning Systems, Inc., since 2001 |
| Facts checked | 12 October 2026 |
An online career school with an office in Allentown
Blackstone Career Institute teaches career diplomas and short certificate courses entirely online, at each student’s own pace. The school says its roots go back to 1890 and to the Blackstone Institute, a Chicago producer of law commentary from 1912, and law is still a large part of what it teaches. Direct Learning Systems, Inc., a privately held company that also runs Modern Gun School, bought it in 2001 and renamed it Blackstone Career Institute in 2002. There is no campus: the office, which moved from Emmaus in July 2007, is at 1011 Brookside Rd, Suite 300, Allentown, PA 18106. Blackstone also sells a print correspondence paralegal course to incarcerated students, and in September 2025 it partnered with Edovo, a learning platform for incarcerated learners. A tuition increase takes effect on 2 November 2026.
Ten career diplomas, all online
Each career program awards a career diploma. The table lists the current programs; a dash means Blackstone’s pages give no detail.
| Program | Length | Externship or practicum | Certification exam it prepares for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacy Technician | 810 clock hours | 160 hours at a CVS or Walgreens | PTCB PTCE (CPhT) |
| Medical Billing & Coding | 810 clock hours | None | AAPC CPC (CPC-A) |
| Medical Office Assistant (administrative) | 810 clock hours | None | NHA CMAA |
| Dental Office Assistant (administrative) | 16 lessons | None | DANB NELDA |
| Medical Transcription | 18 units | 100-hour practicum | AHDI RHDS |
| Home Health Aide | 765 clock hours | 120 hours at an agency the student finds | None named; not open to residents of CA, MS, NJ, NY or DC |
| Veterinary Assistant | 865 clock hours | 40-hour clinical experience, then 100 hours | NAVTA AVA |
| Legal Assistant/Paralegal | 915 clock hours (30.5 credits) | None | NALA CP |
| Child Care Provider | 17 lessons | — | None named |
| Legal Nurse Consultant | 855 clock hours | — | None named; RN required |
The Medical Office Assistant and Dental Office Assistant diplomas are administrative: they train for front-office work and include no clinical skills such as taking vital signs, giving injections or chairside assisting. DANB’s NELDA also requires CPR/BLS with a hands-on skills test. Blackstone’s certificate courses are shorter single subjects: Torts, Criminal Law and Procedures; Foundations of Legal Research Using Lexis Advance; Anatomy, Medical Terminology & HIPAA; Medical Office Procedures; Medical Billing; Medical Coding; Leadership Skills; and Personal Caregiver. Paralegals can add advanced courses in areas such as civil litigation, family law, immigration law and wills, trusts and estates.
What the main programs cover
Pharmacy Technician
The 18 units, worth 18 semester credits, include Pharmacy Calculations, Pharmacology and Community & Institutional Pharmacy. The externship is the last requirement: 160 hours at a CVS or Walgreens near the student, which Blackstone says depends on availability and location. Before starting, the student must clear and pay for a background check, drug screen, physical, immunizations and liability coverage, and must hold a driver’s license. Students funded by Army Credentialing Assistance can skip the externship. The program page points students to PTCB’s map of state pharmacy technician rules and lists no excluded states.
Medical Billing & Coding
The diploma is 18 lessons (18 credits, 810 clock hours) covering the ICD-10-CM, CPT and HCPCS code sets, and it is built around AAPC’s Certified Professional Coder exam. There is no externship or practicum, so all practice comes through the coursework. Graduates who pass the CPC hold the CPC-A designation until they have two years of coding experience. Students who want only part of the material can take Medical Billing or Medical Coding as separate certificate courses instead of the full diploma.
Legal Assistant/Paralegal
The course is the 14-volume Modern American Law series, 915 clock hours and 30.5 credits, with Lexis access (four months, according to the 2024 catalog). Paying in full unlocks every volume; on a monthly plan one volume is released a month, and the bi-weekly plan releases three volumes every two weeks. There is no externship. A print correspondence version is sold to incarcerated students. Graduates can go on to advanced courses such as Civil Litigation, Real Estate Law, Practical Bankruptcy Law, Immigration Law and Interviewing & Investigating.
Veterinary Assistant
Sixteen units cover the coursework, and the hands-on part comes in two stages. After Unit 14 the student sets up a 40-hour pre-externship clinical experience, and after the coursework comes a 100-hour externship. BluePearl takes externs at select locations; elsewhere the student finds a clinic or animal shelter with help from the school. Both stages need a 70% average and tuition paid in full, so students on a payment plan should plan to clear the balance before the externship. The program is 865 clock hours and 18 credits.
Home Health Aide
Seventeen units of online coursework (765 clock hours, 17 credits) come before a 120-hour externship at a home-health agency near the student. Blackstone does not place students: the student must find the agency, and the externship can start only after reaching a 70% average and paying tuition in full. Home health aide rules vary by state, so check your state’s training and testing requirements first. The program page excludes residents of California, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York and DC, and gives both 18 and 24 months as the time limit, so confirm which applies.
Medical Transcription
The 18 units (18 semester credits in the 2024 catalog) were revised in February 2025. The coursework ends in a 100-hour practicum: the student transcribes physician dictations, working with a practicum supervisor. The program is built around AHDI’s Registered Healthcare Documentation Specialist exam, and Blackstone’s March 2026 outline says the RHDS voucher is included, unlike the separately sold exam bundles for several of its other programs. Blackstone does not state clock hours. Like the other diplomas, it is self-paced, with up to 18 months to finish.
Tuition, payment plans and what costs extra
Blackstone charges one national price, with no in-state rate. Each program has three ways to pay (paralegal adds a bi-weekly plan), and every total includes a $150 registration fee. These were the prices on Blackstone’s tuition page and program pages on 12 October 2026:
- Paralegal, Veterinary Assistant, Dental Office Assistant, Home Health Aide and Child Care Provider: $1,214 paid in full; $1,298 on Payment Plan I ($59 down, 15 payments of $79 and a final $54); $1,442 on Payment Plan II ($59 down, 23 payments of $59 and a final $26).
- Medical Billing & Coding (the lower of the two price sets on its program page): $1,525 paid in full; $1,742 on Plan I ($59 down and 17 payments of $99); $1,876 on Plan II ($59 down and 23 payments of $79).
Four program pages, Pharmacy Technician, Medical Office Assistant, Medical Billing & Coding and Legal Nurse Consultant, also show a second, higher set of prices with no label saying which applies; on the first two, the lower set matches the $1,214 prices above. Every program page also announces a tuition increase from 2 November 2026 without giving the new prices. Ask Blackstone (800-826-9228) for the price that applies on your enrollment date, in writing, including the Medical Transcription and Legal Nurse Consultant prices.
Paying in full unlocks all lessons at once. On a payment plan Blackstone releases one unit a month, so students on a plan move through the course no faster than that. In 2025 Blackstone took the certification bundles out of paralegal, pharmacy technician, medical office assistant and medical billing and coding tuition. Optional exam bundles are sold separately for $260 (PTCE), $277 (CMAA), $982 (DANB NELDA), $998 (NALA CP) and $1,179 (CPC-A), and the NAVTA AVA voucher costs $175, as Blackstone’s April 2025 announcement and program pages explain.
Under the 2024 catalog, a student who cancels within five days of signing gets a full refund. After that the school keeps a registration fee of 15% of tuition or $150, whichever is less. Once lessons start, the student owes 10%, 25% or 50% of tuition at the 10%, 25% and 50% lesson marks, and all of it after that; e-materials are not refundable. Reinstatement within 180 days costs $75.
No federal aid. Blackstone does not take part in federal student aid, so Pell Grants and federal student loans cannot be used. Veterans can use the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which the school says covers the entire course tuition depending on benefit level. Military spouses can use SpouseWorks (formerly MyCAA), which does not cover the $150 registration fee, and Army Credentialing Assistance is accepted for Pharmacy Technician. Vermont’s JobLink training-provider list showed four approved Blackstone programs, with no financial aid offered, when it was updated on 28 October 2025.
Admissions and schedule
Applicants need a high school diploma or GED and must pass a reading assessment with a score of 70%, with one retest allowed. Enrolling takes an enrollment agreement and the down payment, and students start the day they enroll; there are no terms or set class times. Study is self-paced, averaging 4 to 12 months with up to 18 months from enrollment. The 2024 catalog allows two six-month extensions for a nominal fee, while the FAQ mentions one, so ask. Students need a PC with internet access, and instructor help is by email. Externship programs also ask for a résumé, a driver’s license and auto insurance, health and immunization records, a physical, a background check, a drug screen, liability insurance and CPR. Legal Nurse Consultant applicants must be RNs with 3 to 5 years of nursing experience, according to the 2024 catalog. International students must pay in full.
Accreditation and published results
Blackstone has been accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) since 2005. DEAC renewed the accreditation at its 24 January 2025 meeting, through January 2030, according to the DEAC commission report. The school is licensed by the Pennsylvania State Board of Private Licensed Schools and is also accredited by the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools, a commission for secondary schools rather than a college accreditor.
Blackstone reports a 79% average completion/graduation rate for 2025, covering all its divisions, on its consumer information page, without saying how the rate is defined or which students it counts. The same page says 97% of surveyed graduates would recommend the school, with no survey year given. We found no published certification exam pass rates, and Blackstone publishes no job placement rates.
Before you enroll
- The office programs are not clinical training. Medical Office Assistant and Dental Office Assistant teach front-office work; neither trains a clinical medical assistant or a chairside dental assistant.
- Prices may change on 2 November 2026. The new prices were not published when we checked, and four program pages show two unlabeled price sets. Get your price in writing.
- Payment plans unlock one unit a month. Paying in full unlocks everything; on a plan, course access follows the payments.
- Most certification exams cost extra. Since 2025 the exam bundles are sold separately, from $260 for the PTCE to $1,179 for the CPC-A; the Medical Transcription outline says its RHDS voucher is included.
- You arrange much of the hands-on part. Home Health Aide students must find their own agency, veterinary students set up their 40-hour clinical experience, and pharmacy externships depend on a CVS or Walgreens near you.
Career help, but no job placement
Blackstone has a Career Center for résumé and job-search preparation, but its FAQ says that as a distance education provider it is unable to offer job placement. Its externship partners are CVS and Walgreens for pharmacy students and BluePearl, at select locations, for veterinary students.
Reviews: too few to summarize
No review platform we checked had enough reviews for a fair summary. The Better Business Bureau gives Blackstone an A+ rating and has accredited it since August 2003, but listed only 3 customer reviews on 12 October 2026. Trustpilot had none, and we found no Niche profile.
Facts checked October 2026.
Programs & Courses
Criminal Justice and Law
- Legal Assistant/Paralegal career diploma (NALA CP exam prep; print correspondence version for incarcerated students)
- Certificate courses: Torts, Criminal Law and Procedures; Foundations of Legal Research Using Lexis Advance
- Advanced paralegal courses: Civil Litigation; Business & Corporate Law; Real Estate Law; Practical Bankruptcy Law; Personal Injury/Torts; Family Law; Wills, Trusts and Estates; Criminal Law & Procedures; Immigration Law; Interviewing & Investigating
Healthcare Administration
- Medical Billing & Coding career diploma (AAPC CPC exam prep)
- Medical Office Assistant career diploma (administrative only; NHA CMAA exam prep)
- Dental Office Assistant career diploma (administrative only; DANB NELDA exam prep)
- Medical Transcription career diploma (100-hour practicum; AHDI RHDS exam prep)
- Certificate courses: Anatomy, Medical Terminology & HIPAA; Medical Office Procedures; Medical Billing; Medical Coding
Healthcare and Nursing
- Pharmacy Technician career diploma (160-hour externship; PTCB PTCE exam prep)
- Home Health Aide career diploma (120-hour externship; not available to residents of CA, MS, NJ, NY or DC)
- Legal Nurse Consultant career diploma (for registered nurses)
- Personal Caregiver certificate course
Veterinary
- Veterinary Assistant career diploma (40-hour clinical experience and 100-hour externship; NAVTA AVA exam prep)
Child Care and Other Courses
- Child Care Provider career diploma
- Leadership Skills certificate course
Campus Locations
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