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Best Law Schools in California

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2023 Best Law Schools in California

19 Colleges
$67,324 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Law School for You

Law is one of the most popular subjects to study in California. With 4,128 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 4th out of all the majors we track in the state.

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, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Law Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 19 schools in California to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Law Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best for law majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Law Schools

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Stanford University the best school in California for law students. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of California - Berkeley is a great place for law students. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Southern California is a great place for law students. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Full Law at University of Southern California Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Law Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Law at University of California - Los Angeles Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Hastings College of Law. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Law Schools in California list. Located in the large city of San Francisco, UC Hastings is a public school with a small student population.

Full Law at University of California - Hastings College of Law Report

#6

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

Santa Clara University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for law students. It came in at #6 on the list. SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Santa Clara.

Full Law at Santa Clara University Report

#7

Southwestern Law School

Los Angeles, CA

Southwestern Law School did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for law students. It came in at #7 on the list. Southwestern Law School is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Read full report on Law at Southwestern Law School

With a ranking of #8, University of California - Irvine did quite well on this year’s best schools for law students. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Law at University of California - Irvine Report

University of California - Davis landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best law programs. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Law at University of California - Davis

#10

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, CA

Loyola Marymount University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for law students. It came in at #10 on the list. Loyola Marymount is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Full Law at Loyola Marymount University Report

Best Law Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 514
Oregon 408
Nevada 166
Hawaii 109

Law is one of 4 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Legal Research 6,659
Legal Professions (Other) 1,424
Legal Support Services 446
Non-Professional General Legal Studies 444

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 19 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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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