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2024 Best Legal Research Schools in California

13 Colleges in California
1,054 Legal Research Degrees Awarded
$75,122 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in legal research, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #114 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual reviewed 13 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of legal research. Combined, these schools handed out 1,054 degrees in legal research to qualified students.

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

Best Legal Research Schools in California Your choice of legal research school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for legal research 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.

Master's Degrees in Legal Research
Doctor's Degrees in Legal Research

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 Research Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's 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 research degree levels they offer.

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
354 Legal Research Degrees Awarded
$55,738 Median Starting Salary

University of Southern California is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in legal research. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were about 354 legal research students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, legal research degree recipients usually make an average of $55,738 at the beginning of their careers.

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

2
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11th Most Popular In CA

Every student who is interested in legal research needs to look into Stanford University. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were about 20 legal research students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in legal research from Stanford University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
125 Legal Research Degrees Awarded

University of California - Berkeley is a wonderful option for students interested in a degree in legal research. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were approximately 125 legal research students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available.

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

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In CA
43 Legal Research Degrees Awarded

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in legal research. UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were about 43 legal research students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year.

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

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
38 Legal Research Degrees Awarded
2.6% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of San Diego, USD is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 29th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 38 legal research students who graduated with this degree at USD in the most recent year we have data available. Those legal research students who get their degree from University of San Diego receive $16,664 more than the standard legal research graduate.

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

6
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
13th Most Popular In CA
35.3% Growth in Graduates

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

There were approximately 17 legal research students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent year we have data available.

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

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$102,600 Median Starting Salary

Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco. This university ranks 26th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 20 legal research students who graduated with this degree at Golden Gate University - San Francisco in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the legal research degree program at Golden Gate University - San Francisco get $27,478 more than the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in legal research from Golden Gate University - San Francisco

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
$69,748 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Stockton, Pacific is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 40th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 9 legal research students who graduated with this degree at Pacific in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the legal research program earn about $69,748 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in legal research from University of the Pacific

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA
103 Legal Research Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of San Diego, California Western is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

There were roughly 103 legal research students who graduated with this degree at California Western in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in legal research from California Western School of Law

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In CA

Located in the city of San Francisco, UC Hastings is a public university with a small student population.

There were roughly 22 legal research students who graduated with this degree at UC Hastings in the most recent year we have data available.

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

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 108
Oregon 266 26
Nevada 192 8
Hawaii 164 7

View All Rankings >

Legal Research is one of 4 different types of Legal Professions programs to choose from.

Major Annual Graduates
General Advanced Legal Research/Studies 420
Programs for Foreign Lawyers 337
American/U.S. Law/Legal Studies/Jurisprudence 113
Tax Law/Taxation 81
Banking, Corporate, Finance, & Securities Law 38
International Business, Trade, & Tax Law 24
Other Legal Research & Advanced Professional Studies 18
Comparative Law 13
International Law & Legal Studies 6
Energy, Environment, & Natural Resources Law 3

View All Legal Research Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Law 4,128
Legal Support Services 1,618
Non-Professional General Legal Studies 745
Legal Professions (Other) 271

View All Legal Research Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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