2024 Best Legal Research Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

Legal Research is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #37 most popular master's degree program in the country. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual looked at 21 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Legal Research Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,385 master's degrees in legal research during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Legal Research School for Your Master's Degree

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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

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 Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

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

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on legal research students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other legal research students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt legal research students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized legal research related body.

Our complete 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

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Legal Research Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Legal Research in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for legal research students seeking a a master's degree.

10 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Master's in Legal Research

1

Georgetown University
Washington, DC

315 Annual Graduates

$109,015 Median Starting Salary

Georgetown University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in legal research. Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those legal research students who get their master's degree from Georgetown University make $32,966 more than the typical legal research grad.

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

2

University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

42 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in legal research needs to check out University of Pennsylvania. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in legal research from University of Pennsylvania

3

Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY

94 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in legal research needs to look into Columbia University in the City of New York. Located in the large 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

New York University
New York, NY

179 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat New York University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in legal research. Located in the 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

George Washington University
Washington, DC

74 Annual Graduates

$88,848 Median Starting Salary

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

Master's recipients from the legal research major at George Washington University earn $12,799 above the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

6

Fordham University
Bronx, NY

81 Annual Graduates

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

7

Villanova University
Villanova, PA

41 Annual Graduates

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

8

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus
Pittsburgh, PA

15 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Pitt is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in legal research from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

9

Widener University
Chester, PA

19 Annual Graduates

$90,088 Median Starting Salary

Widener is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Chester.

Legal Research master's degree recipients from Widener University get an earnings boost of about $14,039 above the typical earnings of legal research majors.

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

10

American University
Washington, DC

87 Annual Graduates

$48,710 Median Starting Salary

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

Students who graduate with their master's from the legal research program state that they receive average early career wages of $48,710.

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

Best Legal Research Colleges by State

Explore the best legal research colleges for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	261	551
Pennsylvania	248	235
Maryland	193	45
New Jersey	188	76
District of Columbia	154	478

View All Rankings >

Legal Research Related Rankings by Major

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

Legal Research Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Tax Law/Taxation	310
General Advanced Legal Research/Studies	285
Other Legal Research & Advanced Professional Studies	134
Health Law	133
International Law & Legal Studies	131
Programs for Foreign Lawyers	117
American/U.S. Law/Legal Studies/Jurisprudence	113
International Business, Trade, & Tax Law	72
Energy, Environment, & Natural Resources Law	38
Banking, Corporate, Finance, & Securities Law	29

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Legal Professions (Other)	235
Non-Professional General Legal Studies	43
Legal Support Services	37

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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). More about our data sources and methodologies.