2023 Best Value Colleges for Legal Research (Income $30-$48k) in District of Columbia

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Legal Research Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Legal Research is the 114th most popular major in the country with 6,874 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, legal research graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $66,544 and had an average of $26,000 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 481 legal research graduates with average earnings and debt of $82,283 and $0 respectively.

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

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the legal research program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Legal Research Schools

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 Value Legal Research Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Legal Research Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for district of columbia legal research students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Legal Research (Income $30-$48k) in District of Columbia

1

Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$9,871 Average Net Price

$69,885 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Georgetown University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Legal Research Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 317 diplomas to qualified ’s legal research students in 2020-2021.

Georgetown also made our “Best Legal Research Schools in District of Columbia” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for Georgetown University is $9,871 for District of Columbia Legal Research students whose families make $30-$48k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Georgetown University Legal Research Report

2

George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$14,889 Average Net Price

$65,148 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Legal Research Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, George Washington University landed the #2 spot on the list. Washington, District of Columbia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s legal research degrees to 74 students in 2020-2021.

GWU also made our “Best Legal Research Schools in District of Columbia” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for GWU is $14,889 for district of columbia legal research students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.3% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Full George Washington University Legal Research Report

3

American University
Washington, District of Columbia

#3 in overall quality

$20,965 Average Net Price

$50,575 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Legal Research Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, American University landed the #3 spot on the list. Washington, District of Columbia is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s legal research degrees to 88 students in 2020-2021.

The American University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Legal Research Schools in District of Columbia” list. It costs about $20,965 for district of columbia legal research students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend The American University.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.7% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Legal Research at The American University

• Best Value Colleges for Legal Research (Income $30-$48k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Colleges for Legal Research (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.