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
Choosing a Great Legal Professions School
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.
Legal Professions Rankings by Degree Level
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.
Best Schools for Legal Professions in California
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.
10 Top California Schools in Legal Professions
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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