2023 Best Value Legal Professions Schools in California
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Legal Professions 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Legal Professions Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 22 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for legal professions students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
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 Schools
Our analysis found Cerritos College to be the best value school for legal professions students who want to pursue a degree in California. Cerritos College is a large public school located in the suburb of Norwalk.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cerritos College are $1,346 per year. Legal Professions majors at Cerritos College take out an average of $16,650 in student loans while working on their egree.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a great value for legal professions students. Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Legal Professions Schools in California list. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Berkeley are $14,226 a year. On average, legal professions graduates from UC Berkeley take out $15,000 in student loans while working on their degree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $278.
UC Berkeley not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Legal Professions Schools in California list.
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Out of the 22 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCLA are $13,258 per year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCLA also did well on our Best Legal Professions 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 #5 on this year’s Best Value Legal Professions Schools in California list. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Irvine are $13,775 a year.
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With a ranking of #6, University of California - Davis did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal professions students. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Davis are $14,645 per year.
UC Davis also claimed a spot on our Best Legal Professions Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
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South Coast College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Legal Professions Schools in California list. Located in the city of Orange, South Coast College is a private for-profit college with a small student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at South Coast College are $13,106 per year.
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Southwestern Law School did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for legal professions students. It came in at #8 on the list. Southwestern Law School is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
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Loyola Marymount University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for legal professions students. It came in at #9 on the list. Loyola Marymount is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
Loyola Marymount undergraduate students pay an average of $53,051 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Loyola Marymount also did well on our Best Legal Professions Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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Trinity Law School came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Legal Professions Schools in California ranking. Trinity Law School is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Santa Ana.
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 22 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.
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