A few questions:

1.  What is the degree you said she is finishing up?  Is she earning a Bachelor's?  If so, in what field?

2.  Is she prepared to commit to a paralegal program and for how long? 

3.  Is she prepared to give up her summers to work year-round, and is she prepared to give up the teacher's retirement program?

4.  Is she a very organized, detail-oriented, self-starter type of person?

5.  Is she willing to put some years in working her way up the food chain?

6.  How is she with dealing with people with big egos?

If she already has her bachelors, it can be a much shorter path to becoming a paralegal because by choosing the right program she can jump straight into legal studies without having to take the general classes that are required by two-year or longer paralegal program.  Some programs are as short as 3-months but they require a Bachelors degree for admission and they are very intensive, boot-camp type programs that assume a certain level of education and, because of time constraints, will leave behind those who can't keep up.  The good news about those is you can jump into the job market very quickly.  The bad news is if you can't absorb a large amount of material in a very short time, you will not be prepared to tackle a job effectively even if you do finish the program.

It's very important that she choose a program that is accredited by the American Bar Association.  It's not worth the time and money to invest in a program that an employer might view as substandard because it's not accredited by the ABA.  Chances are she's going to be competing for jobs with graduates of ABA-approved programs so she may as well be on a level playing field.  I would also recommend avoiding anything less than a full-time 3-month or 6-month part-time program.  There are a huge variety of paralegal programs and unfortunately many of the very short-term ones are scams or mills that do not offer a quality legal education and will not result in a decent job. No Sally Struthers paralegal programs, please.

She might also consider what areas of law will tie into her existing degree.  I wouldn't recommend someone with a degree in chemistry work as a real estate paralegal, for example, because it would be a waste of the degree. It's better to tie-in with the knowledge and expertise she has already gained.  If her degree is in a scientific or technical field, she should give thought to gearing her legal career to that area.  For instance, if she has a degree in biology she may want to prepare to specialize in bioscience patent work.  The more she can specialize in something that requires a technical background, the higher her earning potential. For instance, RNs that earn a paralegal certificate and work on medical malpractice cases earn much more than other paralegals working in med mal because they have the technical knowledge that allows them to handle a higher level of medical aspects of the cases.

She should also know that she may have to work her way up from doing basic (even mundane) casework to doing more high-level work.  The majority of the time, high-level work isn't given to the low guy on the totem pole although that can depend significantly on the area of law and the employer (large law firm versus small law firm, corporation versus government, etc.).  Many people drop out of the profession in the first five years because they are not advancing fast enough to get to the more challenging work.  After that 5 year mark, things can change dramatically because there are fewer people with that level of experience.

I'd also suggest she take a look at her personality, strengths & weaknesses and see if she is cut out for paralegal work.  For example, in general someone who is thin-skinned or highly sensitive may not be comfortable working with lawyers because they can often be demanding and even condescending (litigators especially).  If she is the type to let things roll off her back or can stand up for herself, she will be fine.  Regardless of her personality, though, if she is not a highly detail-oriented/highly organized person, then she's pretty much sunk before she starts.

If she wants more information on the profession, I'd suggest she visit http://www.paralegals.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=1030 to find a paralegal organization in her state.  They can direct her to local options for paralegal education and also put her in touch with working paralegals in her area. Most paralegals I know are more than happy to speak with people who are considering the profession.  I'd suggest she speak with as many working paralegals as possible since there are so many areas of law and the job duties can be very different even within the same area.  IMO, the paralegal profession has some of the most widely-varying job duties in the entire workforce, ranging from under-utilized paralegals (or secretaries who call themselves paralegals) to those who could pass a bar exam.  Given a few basic qualifications and personal characteristics, there's something for everyone in this profession.

Let me know if she has any other questions, I'm happy to help if I can.  ; )