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Best Legal Professions Schools

2023 Best Legal Professions Schools

311 Colleges
$47,649 Avg Salary
$28,699 Avg Student Debt

Legal Professions is the #16 most popular major in the country with 61,055 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. 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 Legal Professions Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 311 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.

View our full ranking methodology.

Check out the legal professions programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Our 2023 rankings named University of Virginia - Main Campus the best school in the United States for legal professions students. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.

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#2

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Legal Professions Schools list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

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#3

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Schools list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#4

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Stanford University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Legal Professions Schools list. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

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#5

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Georgetown University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Legal Professions Schools list. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Washington.

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#6

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

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

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#7

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for legal professions students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#8

New York University

New York, NY

New York University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for legal professions students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

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#9

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

With a ranking of #9, Vanderbilt University did quite well on this year’s best schools for legal professions students. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for legal professions students. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public college with a very large student population.

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#11

El Centro College

Dallas, TX

El Centro College came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Schools ranking. El Centro College is a very large public school located in the city of Dallas.

The average amount in student loans that legal professions majors at El Centro College take out is $15,501.

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Columbia University in the City of New York ranked #12 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Schools list. Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

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University of Houston - Clear Lake landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best legal professions programs. Located in the large suburb of Houston, UH Clear Lake is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

On average, legal professions graduates from UH Clear Lake take out $25,024 in student loans while working on their degree.

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University of California - Berkeley ranked #14 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Schools list. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

After completing their degree, legal professions graduates from UC Berkeley carry an average student debtload of $15,000. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $278, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

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California University of Pennsylvania came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Schools ranking. Located in the small suburb of California, Cal U is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

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Anoka Technical College ranked #16 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Schools list. Located in the suburb of Anoka, Anoka Technical College is a public college with a small student population.

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#17

Bellevue University

Bellevue, NE

Bellevue University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best legal professions programs. Bellevue University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Bellevue.

After completing their degree, legal professions graduates from Bellevue University carry an average student debtload of $33,682.

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#18

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

University of Notre Dame did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for legal professions students. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#19

Inver Hills Community College

Inver Grove Heights, MN

Inver Hills Community College came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Schools ranking. IHCC is a small public school located in the large suburb of Inver Grove Heights.

On average, legal professions graduates from IHCC take out $22,750 in student loans while working on their degree.

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#20

Hamline University

Saint Paul, MN

Hamline University landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best legal professions programs. Hamline is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Saint Paul.

The average amount in student loans that legal professions majors at Hamline take out is $23,688. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $222.

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American Public University System landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best legal professions programs. American Military University is a very large private for-profit school located in the town of Charles Town.

After completing their degree, legal professions graduates from American Military University carry an average student debtload of $30,648.

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University of Washington - Tacoma Campus came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Schools ranking. Located in the city of Tacoma, UW Tacoma is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

The average amount in student loans that legal professions majors at UW Tacoma take out is $19,047.

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#23

Portland Community College

Portland, OR

Portland Community College landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best legal professions programs. Located in the city of Portland, Portland Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

After completing their degree, legal professions graduates from Portland Community College carry an average student debtload of $23,666.

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Austin Community College District did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for legal professions students. It came in at #24 on the list. Austin Community College District is a very large public school located in the city of Austin.

Legal Professions majors at Austin Community College District take out an average of $11,808 in student loans while working on their egree.

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South Texas College of Law ranked #25 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Schools list. South Texas College of Law is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Houston.

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#26

Roosevelt University

Chicago, IL
#28

Boston University

Boston, MA
#29

Cerritos College

Norwalk, CA
#38

Fordham University

Bronx, NY
#41

Hodges University

Naples, FL
#43

Valencia College

Orlando, FL
#46

Madonna University

Livonia, MI

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Legal Professions students that almost earned our Best Legal Professions Schools award.

Rank College Location
47 Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI
48 University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA
49 Herzing University - Madison Madison, WI
50 Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny, IA
51 Kirkwood Community College Cedar Rapids, IA
52 Mitchell Hamline School of Law Saint Paul, MN
53 University of Florida Gainesville, FL
54 Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn, NY
55 Emory University Atlanta, GA
56 City Colleges of Chicago - Wilbur Wright College Chicago, IL
57 Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC
58 SUNY Canton Canton, NY
59 Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL
60 North Hennepin Community College Brooklyn Park, MN
61 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
62 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC

View the Best Legal Professions Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Major Annual Graduates
Law 36,216
Legal Support Services 11,545
Legal Research 6,874
Non-Professional General Legal Studies 4,407
Legal Professions (Other) 2,013

Related Major Annual Graduates
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 142,610
Public Administration & Social Service 98,583
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies 73,813
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences 4,477

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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to The wub.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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