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Best Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools in California

18 Colleges
$60,062 Avg Salary

In 2020-2021, 6,896 degrees and certificates were awarded to legal professions students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #20 most popular major in the state.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 18 schools in California to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school is, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

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

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Stanford University the best school in California for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

Read full report on Legal Professions at Stanford University

Out of the 18 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 very large student population.

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

#3

University of San Diego

San Diego, CA

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of San Diego helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best legal professions schools in California. Located in the large city of San Diego, USD is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Read full report on Legal Professions at University of San Diego

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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Out of the 18 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Golden Gate University - San Francisco landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the large city of San Francisco, Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Legal Professions at Golden Gate University - San Francisco

#6

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

Santa Clara University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree legal professions programs. SCU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara.

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With a ranking of #7, University of California - Irvine did quite well on this year’s best schools for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a very large student population.

Full Legal Professions at University of California - Irvine Report

California Western School of Law ranked #8 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California list. California Western is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.

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With a ranking of #9, University of California - Davis did quite well on this year’s best schools for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Legal Professions at University of California - Davis

With a ranking of #10, University of California - Hastings College of Law did quite well on this year’s best schools for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of San Francisco, UC Hastings is a public school with a small student population.

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Explore all the Best Legal Professions Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 892
Oregon 506
Hawaii 128
Nevada 265
Alaska 32

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 18 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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