2023 Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree School for You
With 45,189 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, legal professions is the #7 most popular major in the United States.
With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 168 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best doctor's degree programs for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.
View our full ranking methodology.
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2023 Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Colleges.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Legal Professions
Our 2023 rankings named University of Virginia - Main Campus the best school in the United States for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.
Full Legal Professions at University of Virginia - Main Campus Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
Read full report on Legal Professions at Northwestern University
Out of the 168 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the # 3 spot on the list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.
Read full report on Legal Professions at University of Chicago
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Pennsylvania. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
Out of the 168 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Stanford University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.
Harvard University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree legal professions programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Georgetown University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree legal professions programs. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.
New York University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
With a ranking of #9, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well on this year’s best schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Legal Professions at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Vanderbilt University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Legal Professions at Vanderbilt University
University of California - Berkeley landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree legal professions programs. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Legal Professions at University of California - Berkeley
Columbia University in the City of New York came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
University of Notre Dame landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree legal professions programs. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Legal Professions at University of Notre Dame
With a ranking of #14, South Texas College of Law did quite well on this year’s best schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. South Texas College of Law is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.
University of Southern California ranked #15 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools list. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
Read full report on Legal Professions at University of Southern California
The University of Texas at Austin ranked #16 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Full Legal Professions at The University of Texas at Austin Report
With a ranking of #17, Washington and Lee University did quite well on this year’s best schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Washington and Lee is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Lexington.
Full Legal Professions at Washington and Lee University Report
With a ranking of #18, Boston University did quite well on this year’s best schools for legal professions students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
University of California - Los Angeles landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree legal professions programs. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a fairly large student population.
With a ranking of #20, Fordham University did quite well on this year’s best 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 college with a fairly large student population.
University of California - Hastings College of Law did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal professions students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #21 on the list. Located in the large city of San Francisco, UC Hastings is a public school with a small student population.
Full Legal Professions at University of California - Hastings College of Law Report
Washington University in St Louis ranked #22 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools list. WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.
Full Legal Professions at Washington University in St Louis Report
Brooklyn Law School ranked #23 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Brooklyn Law is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Brooklyn.
Read full report on Legal Professions at Brooklyn Law School
Emory University came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
Mitchell Hamline School of Law did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal professions students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #25 on the list. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, Mitchell Hamline is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Full Legal Professions at Mitchell Hamline School of Law Report
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 Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools award.
Rank | College | Location |
---|---|---|
26 | Wake Forest University | Winston-Salem, NC |
27 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC |
28 | New York Law School | New York, NY |
29 | University of Wisconsin - Madison | Madison, WI |
30 | Santa Clara University | Santa Clara, CA |
31 | William & Mary | Williamsburg, VA |
32 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill, MA |
33 | Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School | Lansing, MI |
Legal Professions by Region
View the Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
Region |
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Southeast |
New England |
Rocky Mountains |
Plains States |
Middle Atlantic |
Far Western US |
Southwest |
Great Lakes |
More Legal Professions Rankings
Rankings in Majors Related to Legal Professions
Legal Professions Majors to Study
Major | Annual Graduates |
---|---|
Law | 36,216 |
Legal Research | 6,659 |
Legal Professions (Other) | 1,424 |
Legal Support Services | 446 |
Non-Professional General Legal Studies | 444 |
Most Popular Majors Related to Legal Professions
Related Major | Annual Graduates |
---|---|
Public Administration & Social Service | 53,252 |
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting | 13,045 |
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies | 10,452 |
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences | 1,613 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to The wub.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
Featured Schools
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