2023 Best Value Law Schools
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Law School for You
Law is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 4th of all the majors we analyze. In 2020-2021, 36,216 degrees and certificates were awarded to students with this major.
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.
The Best Value Law Schools ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 167 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value programs for law 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.
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2023 Best Value Law Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for law majors pursuing a .
Top 25 Best Schools for Affordable Quality in Law
Our analysis found Thomas Jefferson School of Law to be the best value school for law students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Drake University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools list. Drake is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Des Moines.
Drake undergraduate students pay an average of $45,912 in tuition and fees each year.
Drake excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Law Schools list.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Law Schools list. WMU-Cooley Law School is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Lansing.
Read full report on Law at Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School
A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Roger Williams University School of Law is a great value for law students. Located in the large suburb of Bristol, Roger Williams University School of Law is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Virginia - Main Campus. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools list. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at University of Virginia are $54,438 a year.
In addition to its great value ranking, University of Virginia is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Law Schools list.
Read full report on Law at University of Virginia - Main Campus
Gonzaga University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value law programs. Gonzaga is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Spokane.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Gonzaga are $48,470 a year.
Gonzaga also claimed a spot on our Best Law Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
Liberty University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools list. Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lynchburg.
Liberty University undergraduate students pay an average of $16,160 in tuition and fees each year.
University of California - Berkeley landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value law programs. 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 out-of-state undergraduate student at UC Berkeley are $43,980 a year.
UC Berkeley also claimed a spot on our Best Law Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.
Seattle University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for law students. It came in at #9 on the list. Seattle U is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Seattle.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Seattle U are $49,335 per year.
Seattle U also claimed a spot on our Best Law Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.
The University of Texas at Austin landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value law programs. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a very large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UT Austin are $40,996 per year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UT Austin also is in the top 5% of our Best Law Schools ranking.
Northern Illinois University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value law programs. NIU is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Dekalb.
NIU undergraduate students pay an average of $14,738 in tuition and fees each year.
University of South Dakota landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value law programs. USD is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Vermillion.
USD undergraduate students pay an average of $12,942 in tuition and fees each year.
Southwestern Law School ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools list. Southwestern Law School is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.
Capital University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for law students. It came in at #14 on the list. Capital is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Columbus.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Capital are $39,338 per year.
Oklahoma City University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Law Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Oklahoma City, OCU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at OCU are $32,744 per year.
Fordham University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Law Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Bronx, Fordham U is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Fordham U are $55,776 per year.
Mississippi College came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Law Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Clinton, MC is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MC are $20,364 per year.
University of Pennsylvania came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Law Schools ranking. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UPenn are $61,710 a year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UPenn also is in the top 5% of our Best Law Schools ranking.
Inter American University of Puerto Rico - School of Law came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Law Schools ranking. UIPR School of Law is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Juan.
University of Nebraska - Lincoln came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Law Schools ranking. UNL is a very large public school located in the large city of Lincoln.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UNL are $26,720 per year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UNL also did well on our Best Law Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
Loyola Marymount University came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Law Schools ranking. Loyola Marymount is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Loyola Marymount are $53,051 a year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Loyola Marymount is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Law Schools list.
With a ranking of #22, New York University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for law students. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at NYU are $56,500 per year.
NYU also claimed a spot on our Best Law Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.
Creighton University ranked #22 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools list. Located in the city of Omaha, Creighton is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Creighton are $44,524 a year.
Creighton excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Law Schools list.
With a ranking of #24, Villanova University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for law students. Located in the large suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Villanova are $59,020 a year.
Villanova excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Law Schools list.
New York Law School ranked #25 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools list. Located in the large city of New York, New York Law School is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Additional Noteworthy Schools
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Law Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | Loyola University Chicago | Chicago, IL |
| 26 | University of Akron Main Campus | Akron, OH |
| 28 | University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA |
| 29 | Texas Tech University | Lubbock, TX |
| 30 | University of Wisconsin - Madison | Madison, WI |
| 30 | University of Houston | Houston, TX |
| 32 | Santa Clara University | Santa Clara, CA |
| 33 | University of North Dakota | Grand Forks, ND |
| 33 | Texas A&M University - College Station | College Station, TX |
| 33 | Marquette University | Milwaukee, WI |
Law by Region
View the Best Value Law Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Law Rankings
Law Related Majors for Law
Law is one of 4 different types of programs to choose from.
Majors Similar to Law
| 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 25 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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