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Best Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools

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2023 Best Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools

134 Colleges
$60,062 Avg Salary

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 Master's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 134 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences 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.

Check out the legal professions master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

#1

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

Our analysis found University of Chicago to be the best school for legal professions students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

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#2

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of Pennsylvania is a great place for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Full Legal Professions at University of Pennsylvania Report

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Virginia - Main Campus helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best legal professions schools in the United States. University of Virginia is a very large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.

Full Legal Professions at University of Virginia - Main Campus Report

#4

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

The excellent master’s degree programs at Georgetown University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best legal professions schools in the United States. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.

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#5

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

The excellent master’s degree programs at Stanford University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best legal professions schools in the United States. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

Full Legal Professions at Stanford University Report

#6

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Harvard University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal professions students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Legal Professions at Harvard University

#7

New York University

New York, NY

New York University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal professions students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Legal Professions at New York University Report

Columbia University in the City of New York landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree legal professions programs. Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

Full Legal Professions at Columbia University in the City of New York Report

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree legal professions programs. Located in the 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

With a ranking of #10, University of California - Berkeley did quite well on this year’s best schools for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

Full Legal Professions at University of California - Berkeley Report

#11

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Vanderbilt University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full Legal Professions at Vanderbilt University Report

California University of Pennsylvania landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree legal professions programs. Located in the small suburb of California, Cal U is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Full Legal Professions at California University of Pennsylvania Report

#13

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

University of Florida came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Legal Professions at University of Florida

American Public University System came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools ranking. American Military University is a very large private for-profit school located in the town of Charles Town.

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#15

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

With a ranking of #15, University of Notre Dame did quite well on this year’s best schools for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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#16

Boston University

Boston, MA

With a ranking of #16, Boston University did quite well on this year’s best schools for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#17

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal professions students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #17 on the list. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Legal Professions at Northwestern University

#18

George Washington University

Washington, DC

George Washington University landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree legal professions programs. GWU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Washington.

Full Legal Professions at George Washington University Report

Loyola University Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for legal professions students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #19 on the list. Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Legal Professions at Loyola University Chicago

#20

University of San Diego

San Diego, CA

University of San Diego came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of San Diego, USD is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Read full report on Legal Professions at University of San Diego

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 Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
21 Fordham University Bronx, NY
22 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
23 Hamline University Saint Paul, MN
24 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
25 Widener University Chester, PA
26 Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ

View the Best Legal Professions 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

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

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.

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