2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Legal Studies (Income $30-$48k) in California

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Legal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Legal Studies is the 225th most popular major in the country with 3,546 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 529 legal studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 383 legal studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Legal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in legal studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality legal studies programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the legal studies program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Legal Studies Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Legal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Legal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree legal studies students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Legal Studies (Income $30-$48k) in California

#1

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#2 in overall quality

$9,130 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Legal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. This large school is located in Berkeley, California, and it awarded 184 bachelors’s legal studies degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Legal Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $9,130 for California Bachelor’s Degree Legal Studies students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend UC Berkeley.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Legal Studies at University of California - Berkeley

#2

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

#3 in overall quality

$11,793 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Santa Cruz. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Legal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large school located in Santa Cruz, California that handed out 155 bachelors’s legal studies degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Santa Cruz also made our “Best Legal Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Santa Cruz is $11,793 for California Bachelor’s Degree Legal Studies students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low student loan default rate of 2.9% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full UC Santa Cruz Legal Studies Report

#3

University of La Verne

La Verne, California

#4 in overall quality

$23,427 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of La Verne. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Legal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. ULV is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in La Verne, California. It awarded 19 bachelors’s legal studies degrees in 2019-2020.

ULV also took the #4 spot in our “Best Legal Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $23,427 for California Bachelor’s Degree Legal Studies students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend ULV.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Legal Studies at ULV

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Legal Studies (Income $30-$48k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Legal Studies (Income $30-$48k)

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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to The wub.

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