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Best Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools in California

18 Colleges
$60,062 Avg Salary

Out of the majors we analyze each year, legal professions was ranked 6th in California. In fact, 5,637 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 18 schools in California to see which ones offered the best master's degree programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

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

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Our analysis found Stanford University to be the best school for legal professions students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.

Read full report on Legal Professions at University of California - Berkeley

#3

University of San Diego

San Diego, CA

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of San Diego helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best legal professions schools in California. USD is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.

Full Legal Professions at University of San Diego Report

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best legal professions schools in California. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Read full report on Legal Professions at University of California - Los Angeles

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a great place for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco.

Read full report on Legal Professions at Golden Gate University - San Francisco

#6

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

Santa Clara University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the midsize city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Full Legal Professions at Santa Clara University Report

University of California - Irvine ranked #7 on this year’s Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Irvine is a very large public school located in the city of Irvine.

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California Western School of Law came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of San Diego, California Western is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Legal Professions at California Western School of Law

University of California - Davis came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. UC Davis is a very large public school located in the suburb of Davis.

Read full report on Legal Professions at University of California - Davis

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 master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. UC Hastings is a small public school located in the city of San Francisco.

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

Explore all the Best Legal Professions Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 622
Oregon 434
Nevada 187
Hawaii 116
Alaska 3

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 18 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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