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2023 Best Legal Research Master's Degree Schools

112 Colleges
$68,162 Avg Salary

Legal Research is the #107 most popular major in the country with 6,874 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. 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 Legal Research Master's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 112 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best master's degree programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

The following schools top our list of the Best Legal Research Master's Degree Colleges.

#1

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

Our analysis found University of Chicago to be the best school for legal research students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Full Legal Research at University of Chicago Report

#2

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Pennsylvania helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best legal research schools in the United States. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Legal Research at University of Pennsylvania Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Virginia - Main Campus is a great place for legal research students working on their master’s degree. University of Virginia is a very large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.

Read full report on Legal Research at University of Virginia - Main Campus

#4

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

Out of the 112 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Georgetown University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.

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#5

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

The excellent master’s degree programs at Stanford University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best legal research schools in the United States. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

Full Legal Research at Stanford University Report

#6

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Harvard University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#7

New York University

New York, NY

New York University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal research students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Full Legal Research at New York University Report

Columbia University in the City of New York did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal research students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large 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 legal research students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public college with a very large student population.

Full Legal Research at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Report

University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal research students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Legal Research at University of California - Berkeley

#11

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Vanderbilt University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal research students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Read full report on Legal Research at Vanderbilt University

#12

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

University of Florida ranked #12 on this year’s Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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#13

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

University of Notre Dame landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree legal research programs. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Legal Research at University of Notre Dame Report

#14

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal research students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Legal Research at Northwestern University

#15

Boston University

Boston, MA

Boston University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Legal Research at Boston University Report

Loyola University Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal research students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list. Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Legal Research at Loyola University Chicago

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Legal Research Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
17 University of San Diego San Diego, CA
18 George Washington University Washington, DC
19 Fordham University Bronx, NY
20 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
21 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
22 Hamline University Saint Paul, MN

View the Best Legal Research Master'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

One of 4 majors within the area of study, legal research has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Law 36,216
Legal Support Services 11,545
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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