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2024 Best Legal Professions Schools in the Great Lakes Region

43 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
8,634 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$46,243 Avg Early-Career Salary
Legal Professions is about average in terms of popularity for degree programs. That is, it ranks #16 out of the 38 majors across the country that we analyze each year. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 43 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for legal professions students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 8,634 degrees in legal professions to qualified students.

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

Best Legal Professions Schools in the Great Lakes Region The legal professions program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Legal Professions rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for legal professions 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.

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

The legal professions school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Legal Professions Schools in the Great Lakes Region. 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.


 

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the legal professions degrees they offer, see the list below.

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
515 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$122,281 Median Starting Salary

Northwestern University is a good choice for students pursuing a degree in legal professions. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were about 515 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. Those legal professions students who get their degree from Northwestern University earn $76,039 more than the standard legal professions student.

More information about a degree in legal professions from Northwestern University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
241 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$181,006 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in legal professions has to check out University of Chicago. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.

There were approximately 241 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent data year. Those legal professions students who get their degree from University of Chicago earn $134,763 more than the standard legal professions grad.

More information about a degree in legal professions from University of Chicago

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
381 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
1.0% Growth in Graduates

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in legal professions. Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.

There were roughly 381 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available. Those legal professions students who get their degree from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor receive $100,042 more than the average legal professions grad.

More information about a degree in legal professions from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
190 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$87,638 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat University of Notre Dame if you want to pursue a degree in legal professions. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #20 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.

There were about 190 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year. Legal Professions degree recipients from University of Notre Dame receive an earnings boost of about $41,395 over the average income of legal professions majors.

More information about a degree in legal professions from University of Notre Dame

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
405 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
26.2% Growth in Graduates

UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the large city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.

There were roughly 405 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year. After graduation, legal professions degree recipients usually make an average of $47,432 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in legal professions from University of Wisconsin - Madison

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
254 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$56,114 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Cleveland, Case Western is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #63 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Case Western is a great university overall.

There were about 254 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at Case Western in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the legal professions program at Case Western Reserve University earn $9,871 above the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in legal professions from Case Western Reserve University

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
570 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
$69,794 Median Starting Salary

Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #137 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Loyola Chicago is a great university overall.

There were approximately 570 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Chicago in the most recent year we have data available. Legal Professions degree recipients from Loyola University Chicago get an earnings boost of about $23,552 above the average income of legal professions graduates.

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

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
437 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
22.4% Growth in Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Lansing, WMU-Cooley Law School is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly small student population.

There were approximately 437 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at WMU-Cooley Law School in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the legal professions program make an average of $42,317 for their early career.

More information about a degree in legal professions from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
223 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
19.7% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #166 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC is a great university overall.

There were about 223 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at UC in the most recent year we have data available. Legal Professions degree recipients from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus earn a boost of approximately $2,080 over the average income of legal professions majors.

More information about a degree in legal professions from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
34 Legal Professions Degrees Awarded
2.9% Growth in Graduates

Located in the suburb of Allendale, GVSU is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 9th out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were about 34 legal professions students who graduated with this degree at GVSU in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, legal professions degree recipients typically make about $36,426 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in legal professions from Grand Valley State University

Explore the best legal professions schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Indiana 38 1,130
Michigan 38 1,647
Ohio 38 1,588
Illinois 38 2,475
Wisconsin 37 726

View All Rankings >

Major Annual Graduates
Law 5,062
Legal Support Services 1,872
Legal Research 966
Non-Professional General Legal Studies 479
Legal Professions (Other) 255

View All Legal Professions Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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