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2024 Best Legal Research Schools

108 Colleges in the United States
6,874 Legal Research Degrees Awarded
$66,544 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in legal research is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #114 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 108 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Legal Research Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 6,874 degrees in legal research to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Best Legal Research Schools The legal research program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Legal Research rankings. For our Best Overall Legal Research School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Bachelor's Degrees in Legal Research
Master's Degrees in Legal Research
Doctor's Degrees in Legal Research

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Legal Research Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the legal research degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

1
Georgetown crest
Georgetown University
Washington, DC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
317 Legal Research Degrees Awarded
$95,788 Median Starting Salary

Georgetown University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in legal research. Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Georgetown is a great university overall.

There were roughly 317 legal research students who graduated with this degree at Georgetown in the most recent data year. Legal Research degree recipients from Georgetown University earn a boost of around $29,243 above the typical income of legal research majors.

More information about a degree in legal research from Georgetown University

2
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In PA
42 Legal Research Degrees Awarded

University of Pennsylvania is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in legal research. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were approximately 42 legal research students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in legal research from University of Pennsylvania

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In NY
105 Legal Research Degrees Awarded

Columbia University in the City of New York is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in legal research. Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.

There were roughly 105 legal research students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in legal research from Columbia University in the City of New York

4
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In NY
179 Legal Research Degrees Awarded

Every student pursuing a degree in legal research has to check out New York University. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 4th out of 142 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.

There were about 179 legal research students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in legal research from New York University

5
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In MA
67 Legal Research Degrees Awarded

Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Cambridge. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Harvard is a great university overall.

There were roughly 67 legal research students who graduated with this degree at Harvard in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in legal research from Harvard University

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
106 Legal Research Degrees Awarded
$112,796 Median Starting Salary

Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were about 106 legal research students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. Legal Research degree recipients from Northwestern University earn a boost of around $46,252 over the typical earnings of legal research majors.

More information about a degree in legal research from Northwestern University

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
354 Legal Research Degrees Awarded
$55,738 Median Starting Salary

USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were approximately 354 legal research students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the legal research program earn an average of $55,738 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in legal research from University of Southern California

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
370 Legal Research Degrees Awarded
$47,010 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #17 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means WUSTL is a great university overall.

There were roughly 370 legal research students who graduated with this degree at WUSTL in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, legal research degree recipients generally earn an average of $47,010 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in legal research from Washington University in St Louis

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In IL

Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.

There were approximately 29 legal research students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in legal research from University of Chicago

10
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11th Most Popular In CA

Stanford is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Stanford. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were approximately 20 legal research students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in legal research from Stanford University

11
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
125 Legal Research Degrees Awarded

UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were approximately 125 legal research students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in legal research from University of California - Berkeley

12
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
74 Legal Research Degrees Awarded
$88,848 Median Starting Salary

GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington. This university ranks 2nd out of 8 colleges for overall quality in the state of District of Columbia.

There were about 74 legal research students who graduated with this degree at GWU in the most recent data year. Legal Research degree recipients from George Washington University receive an earnings boost of approximately $22,304 above the typical earnings of legal research majors.

More information about a degree in legal research from George Washington University

13
Boston U crest
Boston University
Boston, MA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
118 Legal Research Degrees Awarded
$87,263 Median Starting Salary

Boston U is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston. This university ranks 6th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.

There were roughly 118 legal research students who graduated with this degree at Boston U in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the legal research major at Boston University earn $20,719 above the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in legal research from Boston University

14
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In TN

Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Nashville. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.

There were approximately 4 legal research students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in legal research from Vanderbilt University

15
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
252 Legal Research Degrees Awarded
$89,863 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. This university ranks 4th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were approximately 252 legal research students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Chicago in the most recent data year. Legal Research degree recipients from Loyola University Chicago get an earnings boost of approximately $23,319 over the average income of legal research graduates.

More information about a degree in legal research from Loyola University Chicago

16
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In VA

University of Virginia is a very large public university located in the suburb of Charlottesville. This university ranks 1st out of 63 schools for overall quality in the state of Virginia.

There were approximately 8 legal research students who graduated with this degree at University of Virginia in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in legal research from University of Virginia - Main Campus

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 Research Schools award.

Rank College Location
17 University of Florida Gainesville, FL
18 University of Oklahoma Norman Campus Norman, OK
19 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
20 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH
21 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
22 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
23 Emory University Atlanta, GA
24 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
25 University of Miami Coral Gables, FL

View the Best Legal Research Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

One of 4 majors within the Legal Professions area of study, Legal Research has other similar majors worth exploring.

Major Annual Graduates
General Advanced Legal Research/Studies 2,208
Other Legal Research & Advanced Professional Studies 808
Tax Law/Taxation 777
Programs for Foreign Lawyers 772
American/U.S. Law/Legal Studies/Jurisprudence 749
Health Law 468
International Law & Legal Studies 260
Banking, Corporate, Finance, & Securities Law 255
Energy, Environment, & Natural Resources Law 233
International Business, Trade, & Tax Law 189

View All Legal Research Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Law 36,216
Legal Support Services 11,545
Non-Professional General Legal Studies 4,407
Legal Professions (Other) 2,013

View All Legal Research Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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