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2024 Best Legal Research Master's Degree Schools

104 Colleges in the United States
5,581 Master's Degrees
$68,162 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your master's degree in legal research, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #37 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 104 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for legal research students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 5,581 master's degrees in legal research to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Best Legal Research Master's Degree Schools The legal research master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for legal research students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Legal Research Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The legal research school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Legal Research Master's Degree Schools.

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in legal research. 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

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in legal research needs to check out Georgetown University. Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Those legal research students who get their master's degree from Georgetown University make $40,853 more than the typical legal research student.

More information about a master’s in legal research from Georgetown University

2
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
42 Annual Graduates

University of Pennsylvania is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in legal research. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in legal research from University of Pennsylvania

3
94 Annual Graduates

Columbia University in the City of New York is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in legal research. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in legal research from Columbia University in the City of New York

4
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY
179 Annual Graduates

New York University is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a master's degree in legal research. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in legal research from New York University

5
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
59 Annual Graduates

Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Cambridge.More information about a master’s in legal research from Harvard University

6
95 Annual Graduates

Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston.More information about a master’s in legal research from Northwestern University

7

USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the legal research program earn about $54,250 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in legal research from University of Southern California

8

Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the legal research program make an average of $47,010 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a master’s in legal research from Washington University in St Louis

9
28 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in legal research from University of Chicago

10
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
15 Annual Graduates

Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Stanford.More information about a master’s in legal research from Stanford University

11
119 Annual Graduates

UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.More information about a master’s in legal research from University of California - Berkeley

12

GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.

Master's recipients from the legal research degree program at George Washington University get $20,686 above the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in legal research from George Washington University

13
Boston U crest
Boston University
Boston, MA

Boston U is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Boston.

Those legal research students who get their master's degree from Boston University earn $19,101 more than the average legal research graduate.

More information about a master’s in legal research from Boston University

14
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
4 Annual Graduates

Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville.More information about a master’s in legal research from Vanderbilt University

15

Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Legal Research master's degree recipients from Loyola University Chicago receive an earnings boost of approximately $21,701 above the typical income of legal research graduates.

More information about a master’s in legal research from Loyola University Chicago

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 Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
16 University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA
17 University of Florida Gainesville, FL
18 University of Oklahoma Norman Campus Norman, OK
19 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH
20 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
21 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
22 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
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 Master's Degree 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

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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 1,869
Programs for Foreign Lawyers 770
Tax Law/Taxation 698
American/U.S. Law/Legal Studies/Jurisprudence 574
Other Legal Research & Advanced Professional Studies 549
Health Law 308
International Law & Legal Studies 235
International Business, Trade, & Tax Law 187
Energy, Environment, & Natural Resources Law 168
Banking, Corporate, Finance, & Securities Law 114

Related Major Annual Graduates
Legal Professions (Other) 1,008
Non-Professional General Legal Studies 418
Legal Support Services 106

Notes and References

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