2023 Best Law Doctor's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Law Doctor's Degree 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 Doctor's Degree 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 doctor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States
Check out the law doctor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Law
Our 2023 rankings named University of Virginia - Main Campus the best school in the United States for law students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public college with a very large student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Northwestern is a very 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 working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
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The excellent doctor’s degree 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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Out of the 167 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Stanford University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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Harvard University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge.
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Georgetown University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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New York University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
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With a ranking of #9, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well on this year’s best schools for law students working on their doctor’s degree. U-M is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor.
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Vanderbilt University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Nashville.
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University of California - Berkeley landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree law programs. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.
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Columbia University in the City of New York did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for law students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list. Located in the 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 ranked #13 on this year’s Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.
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South Texas College of Law landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree law programs. Located in the large city of Houston, South Texas College of Law is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
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University of Southern California came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. 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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With a ranking of #16, The University of Texas at Austin did quite well on this year’s best schools for law students working on their doctor’s degree. UT Austin is a very large public school located in the large city of Austin.
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Washington and Lee University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree law programs. Located in the town of Lexington, Washington and Lee is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Boston University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for law students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #18 on the list. Boston U is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the 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 Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.
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Fordham University landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree law programs. Fordham U is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Bronx.
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University of California - Hastings College of Law came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. UC Hastings is a small public school located in the large city of San Francisco.
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Washington University in St Louis ranked #22 on this year’s Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #23, Brooklyn Law School did quite well on this year’s best schools for law students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Law is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Emory University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for law students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #24 on the list. Emory is a 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 doctor’s degree law programs. Mitchell Hamline is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Saint Paul.
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These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Law Doctor's Degree 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 Doctor's Degree 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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