2023 Best Value Law Doctor's Degree Schools in California
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Law Doctor's Degree School for You
With 4,128 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, law is the #29 most popular major in California.
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Law Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 19 schools in California to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for law students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.
For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Law Doctor's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Thomas Jefferson School of Law the best value school in California for law students working on their doctor’s degree. Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Thomas Jefferson School of Law are $1,620 per year.
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Out of the 19 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,160 per year.
UC Berkeley did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Law Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCLA are $13,036 a year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCLA also did well on our Best Law Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of California - Irvine is a great value for law students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Irvine are $13,356 per year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Davis. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Law Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a fairly large student population.
UC Davis graduate students pay an average of $13,608 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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Southwestern Law School landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree law programs. Southwestern Law School is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Southwestern Law School are $18,430 per year.
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With a ranking of #7, Loyola Marymount University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for law students working on their doctor’s degree. Loyola Marymount is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.
Loyola Marymount graduate students pay an average of $19,922 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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With a ranking of #8, Santa Clara University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for law students working on their doctor’s degree. SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Santa Clara.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SCU are $25,170 a year.
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With a ranking of #9, Stanford University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for law students working on their doctor’s degree. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Stanford are $55,011 a year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Stanford is ranked #1 for overall quality for law in California.
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University of La Verne 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 #10 on the list. Located in the large suburb of La Verne, ULV is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at ULV are $14,520 a year.
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Request InformationBest Value Law Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value Law Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Washington | 514 |
| Oregon | 408 |
| Nevada | 166 |
| Hawaii | 109 |
More Law Rankings in California
Law Related Majors for Law
Law is one of 4 different types of programs to choose from.
Majors Similar 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 19 schools only.
- 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.