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Best Value Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Value Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

18 Colleges
$29,966 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$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 Value 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 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.

Our 2023 rankings named Thomas Jefferson School of Law the best value school in California for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Thomas Jefferson School of Law are $1,620 a year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,160 per year.

UC Berkeley did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

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Out of the 18 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UCLA graduate students pay an average of $13,036 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UCLA not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of California - Irvine is a great value 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.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Irvine are $13,356 per 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 Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a very 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, Golden Gate University - San Francisco did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. 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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#7

Trinity Law School

Santa Ana, CA

Trinity Law School ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Trinity Law School is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Santa Ana.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Trinity Law School are $13,650 per year.

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#8

University of San Diego

San Diego, CA

University of San Diego came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of San Diego, USD is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at USD are $28,410 per year.

USD excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

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#9

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, CA

With a ranking of #9, Loyola Marymount University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Loyola Marymount is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Loyola Marymount are $19,922 per year.

Loyola Marymount excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

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#10

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

Santa Clara University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. SCU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Santa Clara.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SCU are $25,170 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, SCU is ranked #3 for overall quality for legal professions in California.

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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

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.

  • 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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