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2023 Best Value Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

134 Colleges
$19,360 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$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 Value 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 value experiences for legal professions students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used 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 professions majors pursuing a master's degree.

Our analysis found Thomas Jefferson School of Law to be the best value school for legal professions students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the 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 Professions at Thomas Jefferson School of Law Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American Public University System. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools list. American Military University is a very large private for-profit school located in the town of Charles Town.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at American Military University are $7,050 a year.

Full Legal Professions at American Public University System Report

#3

Hamline University

Saint Paul, MN

Out of the 134 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Hamline University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Hamline is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Saint Paul.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Hamline are $10,402 per year.

Full Legal Professions at Hamline University Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small suburb of California, Cal U is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Cal U graduate students pay an average of $18,508 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Legal Professions at California University of Pennsylvania

#5

Stevenson University

Stevenson, MD

Out of the 134 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Stevenson University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the rural area of Stevenson, Stevenson is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Stevenson are $8,340 a year.

Full Legal Professions at Stevenson University Report

#6

Drake University

Des Moines, IA

Drake University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree legal professions programs. Drake is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Des Moines.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Drake are $11,988 a year.

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

Read More…

Loyola University Chicago landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree legal professions programs. 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.

Full Legal Professions at Loyola University Chicago Report

#8

Hodges University

Naples, FL

Hodges University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small city of Naples, International College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

International College graduate students pay an average of $15,440 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

University of Virginia - Main Campus came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools ranking. University of Virginia is a very large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at University of Virginia are $33,520 a year.

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

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

Arizona State University - Skysong landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree legal professions programs. Located in the city of Scottsdale, ASU - Skysong is a public school 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.

Full Legal Professions at Arizona State University - Skysong Report

Golden Gate University - San Francisco ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Legal Professions 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.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Golden Gate University - San Francisco are $19,875 a year.

Golden Gate University - San Francisco excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools list.

Full Legal Professions 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 professions students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

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

UC Berkeley excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools list.

Full Legal Professions at University of California - Berkeley Report

#13

Seattle University

Seattle, WA

Seattle 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 #13 on the list. Seattle U is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Seattle.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Seattle U are $14,310 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Seattle U also did well on our Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Legal Professions at Seattle University

#14

Purdue University Global

Indianapolis, IN

Purdue University Global landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree legal professions programs. Purdue University Global is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Indianapolis.

Purdue University Global graduate students pay an average of $10,582 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

With a ranking of #15, The University of Texas at Austin did quite well on this year’s best value schools for legal professions students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UT Austin are $22,944 a year.

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

Read full report on Legal Professions at The University of Texas at Austin

#16

Trinity Law School

Santa Ana, CA

Trinity Law School landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree legal professions programs. Trinity Law School is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Santa Ana.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Trinity Law School are $13,650 a year.

Read full report on Legal Professions at Trinity Law School

#17

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

University of Florida came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Gainesville, UF is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UF graduate students pay an average of $30,130 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UF also did well on our Best Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

#18

Fordham University

Bronx, NY

Fordham University came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the 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 More…

Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School 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 #18 on the list. WMU-Cooley Law School is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Lansing.

WMU-Cooley Law School graduate students pay an average of $14,440 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Legal Professions at Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School Report

#20

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania ranked #20 on this year’s Best Value Legal Professions Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

UPenn graduate students pay an average of $42,932 in tuition and fees each year.

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

Read full report on Legal Professions at University of Pennsylvania

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 Legal Professions Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
21 Liberty University Lynchburg, VA
22 New York University New York, NY
23 Villanova University Villanova, PA
24 University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE
25 Mississippi College Clinton, MS
26 Widener University Chester, PA

View the Best Value 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.

  • 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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