2023 Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree School for You
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.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 212 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular doctor's degree programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Legal Professions program at each school on the list.
2023 Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the most popular for legal professions majors pursuing a doctor's degree.
Top 25 Most Popular Schools for a Doctorate in Legal Professions
Our 2023 rankings named Georgetown University the most popular school in the United States for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Washington.
About 57% of the students majoring in legal professions at the school are women while 43% are male.
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The in-demand doctor’s degree programs at Harvard University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular legal professions schools in the United States. Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
Women make up 49% of the legal professions majors at the school.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means George Washington University is a great place for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. GWU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.
About 51% of the students majoring in legal professions at the school are women while 49% are male.
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Out of the 212 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, New York University landed the # 4 spot 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.
Of the 466 students majoring in legal professions at NYU, 49% are male and 51% are female.
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The in-demand doctor’s degree programs at Columbia University in the City of New York helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular legal professions schools in the United States. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
Women make up 48% of the legal professions majors at the school.
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American University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree legal professions programs. Located in the city of Washington, The American University is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
About 59% of the students majoring in legal professions at the school are women while 41% are male.
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Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. WMU-Cooley Law School is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lansing.
About 61% of the students majoring in legal professions at the school are women while 39% are male.
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With a ranking of #8, Fordham University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of Bronx, Fordham U is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Of the 409 students majoring in legal professions at Fordham U, 52% are male and 48% are female.
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With a ranking of #9, The University of Texas at Austin did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a very large student population.
Of the 376 students majoring in legal professions at UT Austin, 53% are male and 47% are female.
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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Of the 364 students majoring in legal professions at U-M, 49% are male and 51% are female.
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With a ranking of #11, Brooklyn Law School did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Brooklyn Law is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Brooklyn.
Of the 357 students majoring in legal professions at Brooklyn Law, 42% are male and 58% are female.
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With a ranking of #12, University of California - Los Angeles did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.
Of the 344 students majoring in legal professions at UCLA, 48% are male and 52% are female.
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With a ranking of #12, University of Miami did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. U Miami is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Coral Gables.
Of the 344 students majoring in legal professions at U Miami, 49% are male and 51% are female.
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Suffolk University ranked #14 on this year’s Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Boston, Suffolk is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
Of the 340 students majoring in legal professions at Suffolk, 50% are male and 50% are female.
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University of California - Berkeley ranked #15 on this year’s Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.
Women make up 57% of the legal professions majors at the school.
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Yeshiva University ranked #16 on this year’s Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Yeshiva is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
About 55% of the students majoring in legal professions at the school are women while 45% are male.
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With a ranking of #17, Mitchell Hamline School of Law did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Saint Paul, Mitchell Hamline is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
About 55% of the students majoring in legal professions at the school are women while 45% are male.
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University of Virginia - Main Campus came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.
About 45% of the students majoring in legal professions at the school are women while 55% are male.
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With a ranking of #19, New York Law School did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of New York, New York Law School is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Of the 308 students majoring in legal professions at New York Law School, 43% are male and 57% are female.
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Loyola Marymount University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for legal professions students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #20 on the list. Loyola Marymount is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
Women make up 57% of the legal professions majors at the school.
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Northwestern University came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Of the 296 students majoring in legal professions at Northwestern, 45% are male and 55% are female.
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Widener University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for legal professions students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #22 on the list. Widener is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Chester.
Women make up 53% of the legal professions majors at the school.
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Arizona State University - Tempe came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Women make up 46% of the legal professions majors at the school.
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University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree legal professions programs. UIC is a very large public school located in the large city of Chicago.
Of the 285 students majoring in legal professions at UIC, 45% are male and 55% are female.
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University of California - Hastings College of Law came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of San Francisco, UC Hastings is a public college with a small student population.
About 57% of the students majoring in legal professions at the school are women while 43% are male.
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Additional Noteworthy Schools
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | Stetson University | DeLand, FL |
| 33 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA |
| 34 | Duke University | Durham, NC |
| 35 | Washington University in St Louis | Saint Louis, MO |
| 36 | Temple University | Philadelphia, PA |
| 37 | St John’s University - New York | Queens, NY |
| 37 | Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis | Indianapolis, IN |
| 39 | Rutgers University - Newark | Newark, NJ |
| 40 | University of Denver | Denver, CO |
| 40 | University of Houston | Houston, TX |
| 40 | Loyola University Chicago | Chicago, IL |
Legal Professions by Region
View the Most Popular Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
Legal Professions Related Majors
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 |
Most Popular Majors Related 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 26 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.