2023 Best Law Schools
Finding the Best Law School for You
In 2020-2021, 36,216 people earned a degree or certificate in law, making the major the #28 most popular in the United States.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Law Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 167 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Law Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for law majors pursuing a .
Top 25 Top Schools in Law
Our analysis found University of Virginia - Main Campus to be the best school for law students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the small suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public college with a very large student population.
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The excellent programs at Northwestern University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best law schools in the United States. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Chicago is a great place for law students. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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The excellent programs at University of Pennsylvania helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best law schools in the United States. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Stanford University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Law Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Harvard University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Law Schools list. Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge.
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Georgetown University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for law students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #8, New York University did quite well on this year’s best schools for law students. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Law Schools ranking. U-M is a fairly large public school located in the city of Ann Arbor.
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Vanderbilt University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Law Schools list. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Nashville.
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With a ranking of #11, University of California - Berkeley did quite well on this year’s best schools for law students. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.
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Columbia University in the City of New York came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Law Schools ranking. Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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University of Notre Dame came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Law Schools ranking. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.
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South Texas College of Law ranked #14 on this year’s Best Law Schools list. Located in the city of Houston, South Texas College of Law is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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University of Southern California ranked #15 on this year’s Best Law Schools list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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The University of Texas at Austin did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for law students. It came in at #16 on the list. UT Austin is a very large public school located in the large city of Austin.
Law majors at UT Austin take out an average of $19,500 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Washington and Lee University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best law programs. Located in the distant town of Lexington, Washington and Lee is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #18, Boston University did quite well on this year’s best schools for law students. Boston U is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Boston.
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University of California - Los Angeles came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Law Schools ranking. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.
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Fordham University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Law Schools ranking. Fordham U is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Bronx.
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University of California - Hastings College of Law landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best law programs. UC Hastings is a small public school located in the city of San Francisco.
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Washington University in St Louis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for law students. It came in at #22 on the list. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Brooklyn Law School landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best law programs. Located in the large city of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Law is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Emory University ranked #24 on this year’s Best Law Schools list. Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Atlanta.
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Mitchell Hamline School of Law landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best law programs. Mitchell Hamline is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Saint Paul.
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Here are some additional great schools for Law students that almost earned our Best Law Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | Wake Forest University | Winston-Salem, NC |
| 27 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC |
| 28 | New York Law School | New York, NY |
| 29 | University of Wisconsin - Madison | Madison, WI |
| 30 | Santa Clara University | Santa Clara, CA |
| 31 | William & Mary | Williamsburg, VA |
| 32 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill, MA |
| 33 | Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School | Lansing, MI |
Law by Region
View the Best Law Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Law Rankings
Law Related Rankings by Major
One of 4 majors within the area of study, law has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Majors Related to Law
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Legal Support Services | 11,545 |
| Legal Research | 6,874 |
| Non-Professional General Legal Studies | 4,407 |
| Legal Professions (Other) | 2,013 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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