2023 Best Value Legal Research Schools
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Legal Research School for You
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 Value Legal Research Schools ranking. This report analyzed 120 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value programs for legal research students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 15% Best Legal Research Schools
Our analysis found Thomas Jefferson School of Law to be the best value school for legal research students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.
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Out of the 120 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Hamline University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Hamline is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Saint Paul.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Hamline are $46,221 per year.
Hamline also claimed a spot on our Best Legal Research Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means California University of Pennsylvania is a great value for legal research students. Located in the suburb of California, Cal U is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
Cal U undergraduate students pay an average of $15,726 in tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Hodges University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Legal Research Schools list. Located in the small city of Naples, International College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
International College undergraduate students pay an average of $14,780 in tuition and fees each year.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Loyola University Chicago is a great value for legal research students. Located in the city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Loyola Chicago are $47,808 a year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Loyola Chicago also did well on our Best Legal Research Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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With a ranking of #6, University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal research students. University of Virginia is a very large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at University of Virginia are $54,438 a year.
University of Virginia also claimed a spot on our Best Legal Research Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.
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Loyola Marymount University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Legal Research Schools list. Loyola Marymount is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.
Loyola Marymount undergraduate students pay an average of $53,051 in tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Loyola Marymount also did well on our Best Legal Research Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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Arizona State University - Skysong came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Legal Research Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Scottsdale, ASU - Skysong is a public college with a very large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at ASU - Skysong are $13,092 per year.
ASU - Skysong excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Legal Research Schools list.
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With a ranking of #9, Golden Gate University - San Francisco did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal research students. Located in the city of San Francisco, Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Golden Gate University - San Francisco undergraduate students pay an average of $11,343 in tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Golden Gate University - San Francisco is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Legal Research Schools list.
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University of California - Berkeley landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value legal research programs. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.
UC Berkeley undergraduate students pay an average of $43,980 in tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UC Berkeley also did well on our Best Legal Research Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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Seattle University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Legal Research Schools list. Seattle U is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Seattle.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Seattle U are $49,335 per year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Seattle U also did well on our Best Legal Research Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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The University of Texas at Austin did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for legal research students. It came in at #12 on the list. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UT Austin are $40,996 a year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UT Austin also is in the top 5% of our Best Legal Research Schools ranking.
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University of Florida did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for legal research students. It came in at #13 on the list. Located in the city of Gainesville, UF is a public school with a fairly large student population.
UF undergraduate students pay an average of $28,659 in tuition and fees each year.
UF excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Legal Research Schools list.
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Champlain College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for legal research students. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the small city of Burlington, Champlain is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Champlain are $42,984 per year.
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Fordham University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for legal research students. It came in at #15 on the list. Located in the city of Bronx, Fordham U is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Fordham U are $55,776 a year.
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Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Legal Research Schools ranking. WMU-Cooley Law School is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Lansing.
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University of Pennsylvania landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value legal research programs. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
UPenn undergraduate students pay an average of $61,710 in tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UPenn also did well on our Best Legal Research Schools list. It’s in the top 1% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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Liberty University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for legal research students. It came in at #18 on the list. Liberty University is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Lynchburg.
Liberty University undergraduate students pay an average of $16,160 in tuition and fees each year.
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Request InformationAdditional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great value schools for Legal Research students seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Legal Research Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | New York University | New York, NY |
| 20 | Widener University | Chester, PA |
| 21 | University of Nebraska - Lincoln | Lincoln, NE |
| 21 | Villanova University | Villanova, PA |
| 23 | Mississippi College | Clinton, MS |
| 24 | University of Akron Main Campus | Akron, OH |
Legal Research by Region
View the Best Value Legal Research Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Legal Research Rankings
Legal Research Related Majors for Legal Research
One of 4 majors within the area of study, legal research has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Majors Related to Legal Research
| 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 26 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.