2023 Best Value Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools in California
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree School for You
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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 19 schools in California to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for legal professions students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.
For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools
Our analysis found Thomas Jefferson School of Law to be the best value school for legal professions students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in California. Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Thomas Jefferson School of Law are $1,620 per year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Berkeley are $14,160 a year.
UC Berkeley not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.
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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value legal professions schools in California. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCLA are $13,036 per year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UCLA also is in the top 20% of our Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Irvine. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Irvine are $13,356 a year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Davis. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Davis are $13,608 a year.
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With a ranking of #6, Southwestern Law School did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Southwestern Law School is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Southwestern Law School are $18,430 per year.
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Loyola Marymount University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Loyola Marymount is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Loyola Marymount are $19,922 a year.
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Santa Clara University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal professions students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Santa Clara.
SCU graduate students pay an average of $25,170 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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With a ranking of #9, Stanford University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Stanford are $55,011 per year.
Stanford did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.
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Golden Gate University - San Francisco ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Francisco, Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Golden Gate University - San Francisco are $19,875 per year.
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Request InformationBest Value Legal Professions Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value 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 |
More Legal Professions Rankings in California
Legal Professions Related Majors for Legal Professions
Legal Professions Majors to Study
| 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 |
Majors Similar to Legal Professions
| 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 19 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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to The wub.
More about our data sources and methodologies.