2023 Best Value Legal Research Schools in California
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Legal Research School for You
Legal Research is the #91 most popular major in California with 1,054 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Legal Research Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 15 schools in California 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. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Top 10 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 California. Located in the large city of San Diego, Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of California - Berkeley is a great value for legal research students. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,226 per year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UC Berkeley is ranked #3 for overall quality for legal research in California.
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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 Legal Research Schools in California list. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.
UCLA undergraduate students pay an average of $13,258 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCLA also did well on our Best Legal Research Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Legal Research Schools in California list. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Irvine.
UC Irvine undergraduate students pay an average of $13,775 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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Out of the 15 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Davis landed the # 5 spot on the list. UC Davis is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Davis.
UC Davis undergraduate students pay an average of $14,645 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
UC Davis also claimed a spot on our Best Legal Research Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
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Loyola Marymount University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value legal research programs. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Loyola Marymount are $53,051 a year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Loyola Marymount also did well on our Best Legal Research Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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With a ranking of #7, Golden Gate University - San Francisco did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal research students. Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Francisco.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Golden Gate University - San Francisco are $11,343 a year.
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University of San Diego came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Legal Research Schools in California ranking. USD is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at USD are $52,864 a year.
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With a ranking of #9, Santa Clara University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal research students. Located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SCU are $55,860 per year.
SCU also made our Best Legal Research Schools in California list, coming in at #4.
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With a ranking of #10, Stanford University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal research students. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Stanford are $56,169 a year.
Stanford also took the #1 spot in our Best Legal Research Schools in California rankings.
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Request InformationBest Value Legal Research Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value Legal Research Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Washington | 108 |
| Oregon | 26 |
| Nevada | 8 |
| Hawaii | 7 |
More Legal Research Rankings in California
Majors Related to Legal Research
Legal Research is one of 4 different types of programs to choose from.
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 15 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.
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