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Legal Professions Major

Legal Professions

The following table lists how many legal professions graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level Number of Grads
Doctor’s Degree 36,068
Master’s Degree 10,707
Associate Degree 5,241
Bachelor’s Degree 4,743
Undergraduate Certificate 2,572
Graduate Certificate 2,525
Basic Certificate 2,413

In an O*NET survey, legal professions majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in legal professions should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

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  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
  • Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
  • Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

A major in legal professions prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

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  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a legal professions student include the following:

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  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Below is a list of occupations associated with legal professions:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers 3.9% $99,850
Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators 11.5% $62,270
Court Reporters 3.6% $57,150
Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates 5.6% $133,920
Judicial Law Clerks 5.7% $53,540
Law Professors 12.3% $111,140
Lawyers 8.2% $120,910
Legal Support Workers 3.7% $58,930
Paralegals and Legal Assistants 14.6% $50,940
Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers 4.3% $47,130

4,743 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
72% Percent Women
45% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This major is dominated by women with about 72% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of legal professions majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 248
Black or African American 563
Hispanic or Latino 1,040
White 2,331
International Students 85
Other Races/Ethnicities 476

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Legal Professions, too. About 1.8% of those with this major are international students.

Some careers associated with legal professions require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to legal professions have obtained the following education levels.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma 0.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 10.2%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) 8.1%
Some College Courses 6.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 12.2%
Bachelor’s Degree 11.3%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. 4.0%
Master’s Degree 2.7%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level. 1.4%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession. 18.0%
Doctoral Degree 23.0%
Post-Doctoral Training 1.3%

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level Colleges Offering Programs Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) 0 0
Certificate (1-2 years) 644 148
Certificate (2-4 Years) 40 4
Associate’s Degree 1,256 270
Bachelor’s Degree 274 50
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 906 168
Post-Master’s 96 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 138 4
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 462 18
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 4 0

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to legal professions.

Major Number of Grads
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 132,861

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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