College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2024 Best Legal Studies Schools

45 Colleges in the United States
3,818 Legal Studies Degrees Awarded
Legal Studies is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #195 most popular degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 45 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Legal Studies Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,818 degrees in legal studies during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Best Legal Studies Schools The legal studies program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Legal Studies rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for legal studies schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

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

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 Studies Schools list to help you make the college decision. 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.


 

The schools below may not offer all types of legal studies degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In IL
31 Legal Studies Degrees Awarded

It is difficult to beat Northwestern University if you want to pursue a degree in legal studies. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were about 31 legal studies students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in legal studies from Northwestern University

2
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In PA

Any student pursuing a degree in legal studies has to look into University of Pennsylvania. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were approximately 28 legal studies students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available.

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

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
216 Legal Studies Degrees Awarded

Any student who is interested in legal studies has to look into University of California - Berkeley. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were roughly 216 legal studies students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.

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

4
U Miami crest
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In FL
45 Legal Studies Degrees Awarded

It's hard to beat University of Miami if you want to pursue a degree in legal studies. U Miami is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Coral Gables. A Best Colleges rank of #91 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means U Miami is a great university overall.

There were about 45 legal studies students who graduated with this degree at U Miami in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in legal studies from University of Miami

5
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In TN
34 Legal Studies Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.

There were approximately 34 legal studies students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in legal studies from Vanderbilt University

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In MA
86 Legal Studies Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of Boston, Suffolk is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 16th out of 63 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.

There were approximately 86 legal studies students who graduated with this degree at Suffolk in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in legal studies from Suffolk University

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In WI
112 Legal Studies Degrees Awarded

UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.

There were about 112 legal studies students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in legal studies from University of Wisconsin - Madison

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In WA
127 Legal Studies Degrees Awarded

UW Seattle is a very large public university located in the city of Seattle. A Best Colleges rank of #37 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UW Seattle is a great university overall.

There were roughly 127 legal studies students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in legal studies from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

9
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In MA

Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Harvard is a great university overall.

There were roughly 5 legal studies students who graduated with this degree at Harvard in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in legal studies from Harvard University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In AZ
158 Legal Studies Degrees Awarded

Located in the midsize city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #119 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means ASU - Tempe is a great university overall.

There were approximately 158 legal studies students who graduated with this degree at ASU - Tempe in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in legal studies from Arizona State University - Tempe

View the Best Legal Studies 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 2 majors within the Non-Professional General Legal Studies area of study, Legal Studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Pre-Law 586
Non-Professional Legal Studies, Other 3

View All Legal Studies Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options