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2024 Best Legal Professions Schools in California

21 Colleges in California
9,415 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$62,208 Avg Early-Career Salary
When it comes to popularity, legal professions sits in the middle of the road, ranking #16 out of 38 majors in the country. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 21 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for legal professions students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 9,415 degrees in legal professions during the 2021-2022 academic year.

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

Best Legal Professions Schools in California Your choice of legal professions school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Legal Professions School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

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

Associate Degrees in Legal Professions
Bachelor's Degrees in Legal Professions
Master's Degrees in Legal Professions
Doctor's Degrees in Legal Professions

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Legal Professions Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the legal professions degree levels they offer.

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
992 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
32.3% Growth in Graduates

University of California - Berkeley is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in legal professions. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize 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 roughly 992 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the legal professions major at University of California - Berkeley get $37,747 more than the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1,536 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
51.2% Growth in Graduates

University of Southern California is a good option for students interested in a degree in legal professions. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 1536 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the legal professions degree program at University of Southern California get $15,935 more than the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

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

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
287 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
28.9% Growth in Graduates

Stanford University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in legal professions. 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 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were approximately 287 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year. Legal Professions degree recipients from Stanford University earn a boost of approximately $89,366 over the typical earnings of legal professions graduates.

More information about a degree in legal professions from Stanford University

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
653 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
39.7% Growth in Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in legal professions has to check out University of California - Los Angeles. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were about 653 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Legal Professions degree recipients from University of California - Los Angeles earn a boost of about $29,842 above the average earnings of legal professions majors.

More information about a degree in legal professions from University of California - Los Angeles

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
131 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$36,945 Median Starting Salary

UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public university located in the city of Santa Cruz. A Best Colleges rank of #102 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Santa Cruz is a great university overall.

There were roughly 131 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the legal professions program earn an average of $36,945 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a degree in legal professions from University of California - Santa Cruz

6
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
231 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$74,729 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #50 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SCU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 231 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent data year. Those legal professions students who get their degree from Santa Clara University make $12,521 more than the average legal professions student.

More information about a degree in legal professions from Santa Clara University

7
Cerritos College crest
Cerritos College
Norwalk, CA
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
66 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
12.1% Growth in Graduates

Cerritos College is a fairly large public college located in the suburb of Norwalk. This college ranks 64th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 66 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at Cerritos College in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the legal professions program make about $46,618 for their early career.

More information about a degree in legal professions from Cerritos College

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
353 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
13.3% Growth in Graduates

UC Hastings is a small public university located in the large city of San Francisco.

There were roughly 353 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at UC Hastings in the most recent data year. Legal Professions degree recipients from University of California - Hastings College of Law receive an earnings boost of about $10,615 above the average income of legal professions majors.

More information about a degree in legal professions from University of California - Hastings College of Law

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
410 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
12.9% Growth in Graduates

Loyola Marymount is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. This university ranks 20th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 410 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Marymount in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, legal professions degree recipients usually make an average of $55,381 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in legal professions from Loyola Marymount University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
395 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
6.1% Growth in Graduates

USD is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of San Diego. This university ranks 29th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 395 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at USD in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the legal professions degree program at University of San Diego make $6,555 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in legal professions from University of San Diego

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

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
Washington37892
Oregon37506
Hawaii36128
Nevada35265
Alaska3329

View All Rankings >

MajorAnnual Graduates
Law4,252
Legal Research2,265
Legal Support Services1,687
Non-Professional General Legal Studies729
Legal Professions (Other)482

View All Legal Professions Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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