2022 Best Value Legal Research Schools for a Doctorate in District of Columbia

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Legal Research Schools for a Doctorate in District of Columbia” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 9,738 people earned their degree in legal research, making the major the 89th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, legal research graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $64,635 and had an average of $65,122 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 874 legal research graduates with average earnings and debt of $79,525 and $91,290 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 13 legal research graduates with average earnings and debt of $70,324 and $136,457 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Legal Research Schools for a Doctorate in District of Columbia” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in legal research. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality legal research programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the legal research program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Legal Research Schools

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 Value Legal Research Schools for a Doctorate in District of Columbia” list to help you make the college decision.

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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Legal Research Schools for a Doctorate in District of Columbia

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Legal Research Schools for a Doctorate in District of Columbia.

Top 3 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Legal Research in District of Columbia

#1

George Washington University

Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$31,824 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Legal Research Schools for a Doctorate in District of Columbia that were part of this year’s ranking, George Washington University landed the #1 spot on the list. George Washington University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Washington, District of Columbia. It awarded 2 doctorate’s legal research degrees in 2019-2020.

GWU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Legal Research Doctor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at George Washington University are $31,824.

Full George Washington University Legal Research Report

#1

American University

Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$35,524 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend American University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Legal Research Schools for a Doctorate in District of Columbia. This fairly large school is located in Washington, District of Columbia, and it awarded 8 doctorate’s legal research degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at The American University, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Legal Research Doctor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at The American University are $35,524.

Read full report on Legal Research at The American University

#2

Georgetown University

Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$53,591 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Georgetown University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Legal Research Schools for a Doctorate in District of Columbia. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 3 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s legal research students in 2019-2020.

Georgetown not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Legal Research Doctor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Georgetown University are $53,591, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Legal Research at Georgetown

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Legal Research in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Legal Research

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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