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Best Value Legal Research Master's Degree Schools

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2023 Best Value Legal Research Master's Degree Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

112 Colleges
$22,833 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$68,162 Avg Salary

In 2020-2021, 6,659 people earned a degree or certificate in legal research, making the major the #40 most popular in the United States.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Legal Research Master's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 112 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for legal research 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.

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for legal research majors pursuing a master's degree.

Our 2023 rankings named Thomas Jefferson School of Law the best value school in the United States for legal research 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.

Thomas Jefferson School of Law graduate students pay an average of $1,620 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Legal Research at Thomas Jefferson School of Law Report

#2

Hamline University

Saint Paul, MN

The excellent master’s degree programs at Hamline University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value legal research schools in the United States. Hamline is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Saint Paul.

Hamline graduate students pay an average of $10,402 in tuition and fees each year.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at Loyola University Chicago helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value legal research schools in the United States. Located in the city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Loyola Chicago graduate students pay an average of $19,894 in tuition and fees each year.

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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 #4 on this year’s Best Value Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools list. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.

University of Virginia graduate students pay an average of $33,520 in tuition and fees each year.

University of Virginia also claimed a spot on our Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Legal Research at University of Virginia - Main Campus

The excellent master’s degree programs at Arizona State University - Skysong helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value legal research schools in the United States. Located in the city of Scottsdale, ASU - Skysong is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at ASU - Skysong are $9,982 a year.

Read full report on Legal Research at Arizona State University - Skysong

Golden Gate University - San Francisco ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of San Francisco, Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Golden Gate University - San Francisco are $19,875 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Golden Gate University - San Francisco also is in the top 20% of our Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools ranking.

Full Legal Research at Golden Gate University - San Francisco Report

University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal research students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.

UC Berkeley graduate students pay an average of $29,262 in tuition and fees each year.

UC Berkeley also claimed a spot on our Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

Full Legal Research at University of California - Berkeley Report

#8

Seattle University

Seattle, WA

Seattle University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal research students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Seattle U is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Seattle.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Seattle U are $14,310 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Seattle U is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools list.

Read full report on Legal Research at Seattle University

With a ranking of #9, The University of Texas at Austin did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal research students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UT Austin are $22,944 per year.

UT Austin also claimed a spot on our Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

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#10

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

University of Florida ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UF are $30,130 a year.

UF also claimed a spot on our Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Full Legal Research at University of Florida Report

#11

Fordham University

Bronx, NY

Fordham University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree legal research programs. Located in the large city of Bronx, Fordham U is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Fordham U graduate students pay an average of $23,846 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Legal Research at Fordham University

Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal research students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list. WMU-Cooley Law School is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Lansing.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at WMU-Cooley Law School are $14,440 a year.

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#13

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree legal research programs. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UPenn are $42,932 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UPenn also did well on our Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Legal Research at University of Pennsylvania Report

#14

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

Liberty University landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree legal research programs. Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Lynchburg.

Liberty University graduate students pay an average of $8,360 in tuition and fees each year.

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#15

New York University

New York, NY

With a ranking of #15, New York University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal research students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NYU are $38,206 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, NYU also is in the top 10% of our Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools ranking.

Full Legal Research at New York University Report

#16

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

Villanova University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal research students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list. Located in the suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Villanova graduate students pay an average of $21,199 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Villanova also is in the top 5% of our Best Legal Research Master’s Degree Schools ranking.

Full Legal Research at Villanova University Report

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great value schools for Legal Research graduate students seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Legal Research Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
17 University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE
18 Mississippi College Clinton, MS
19 Widener University Chester, PA
20 University of San Diego San Diego, CA
20 Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ
22 University of Houston Houston, TX

View the Best Value Legal Research Master'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

One of 4 majors within the area of study, legal research has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Law 36,216
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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