College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2024 Best Legal Professions Schools in California

21 Colleges in California
7,816 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$61,809 Avg Early-Career Salary
When it comes to popularity, legal professions sits in the middle of the road, ranking #16 out of 38 majors in the country. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 21 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for legal professions students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 7,816 degrees in legal professions during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Best Legal Professions Schools in California Your choice of legal professions school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Legal Professions School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

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

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 Professions Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data 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 professions degree levels they offer.

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
672 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$99,955 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Berkeley is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in legal professions. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were approximately 672 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. Those legal professions students who get their degree from University of California - Berkeley make $38,145 more than the typical legal professions student.

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

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
750 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$78,143 Median Starting Salary

University of Southern California is a good choice for students interested in a degree in legal professions. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 750 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Those legal professions students who get their degree from University of Southern California receive $16,333 more than the typical legal professions graduate.

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

3
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
204 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$151,574 Median Starting Salary

Stanford University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in legal professions. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Stanford. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were approximately 204 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent year we have data available. Those legal professions students who get their degree from Stanford University receive $89,765 more than the standard legal professions graduate.

More information about a degree in legal professions from Stanford University

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
393 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$92,050 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in legal professions needs to look into University of California - Los Angeles. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were approximately 393 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the legal professions program at University of California - Los Angeles get $30,241 above the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

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

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
148 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$36,945 Median Starting Salary

UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Santa Cruz. A Best Colleges rank of #102 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Santa Cruz is a great university overall.

There were approximately 148 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the legal professions program make around $36,945 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in legal professions from University of California - Santa Cruz

6
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
234 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
6.8% Growth in Graduates

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

There were roughly 234 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent year we have data available. Those legal professions students who get their degree from Santa Clara University earn $12,920 more than the average legal professions grad.

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

7
Cerritos College crest
Cerritos College
Norwalk, CA
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
58 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
44.8% Growth in Graduates

Cerritos College is a large public college located in the large suburb of Norwalk. This college ranks 64th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 58 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at Cerritos College in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the legal professions program make about $46,618 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a degree in legal professions from Cerritos College

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
306 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$72,823 Median Starting Salary

UC Hastings is a small public university located in the large city of San Francisco.

There were roughly 306 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at UC Hastings in the most recent data year. Legal Professions degree recipients from University of California - Hastings College of Law receive an earnings boost of around $11,014 over the average earnings of legal professions graduates.

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

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
357 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$55,381 Median Starting Salary

Loyola Marymount is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. This university ranks 20th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 357 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Marymount in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, legal professions degree recipients usually make about $55,381 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in legal professions from Loyola Marymount University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
371 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$68,763 Median Starting Salary

USD is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Diego. This university ranks 29th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 371 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at USD in the most recent year we have data available. Legal Professions degree recipients from University of San Diego receive an earnings boost of about $6,954 over the typical income of legal professions majors.

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

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 37 892
Oregon 37 506
Hawaii 36 128
Nevada 35 265
Alaska 33 29

View All Rankings >

Major Annual Graduates
Law 4,128
Legal Support Services 1,618
Legal Research 1,054
Non-Professional General Legal Studies 745
Legal Professions (Other) 271

View All Legal Professions 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