College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2024 Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools

151 Colleges in the United States
36,426 Doctor's Degrees
$65,077 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a doctor's degree in legal professions, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #2 most popular program in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 151 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 36,426 doctor's degrees in legal professions during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools The legal professions doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for legal professions students working on their doctor's degree.

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Legal Professions Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.


 

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for legal professions students seeking a a doctor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

1
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
258 Annual Graduates

University of Pennsylvania is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in legal professions. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from University of Pennsylvania

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
337 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in legal professions has to take a look at University of California - Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the city of Berkeley.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from University of California - Berkeley

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
296 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Northwestern University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in legal professions. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from Northwestern University

4
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
601 Annual Graduates

Harvard University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in legal professions. Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Cambridge.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from Harvard University

5
Georgetown crest
Georgetown University
Washington, DC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
674 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from Georgetown University

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
213 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from University of Chicago

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
461 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from Columbia University in the City of New York

8
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
466 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from New York University

9
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
189 Annual Graduates

Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Stanford.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from Stanford University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
340 Annual Graduates

Suffolk is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from Suffolk University

11
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
321 Annual Graduates

University of Virginia is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Charlottesville.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from University of Virginia - Main Campus

12
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
192 Annual Graduates

Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from Vanderbilt University

13
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
364 Annual Graduates

U-M is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

14
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
193 Annual Graduates

USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from University of Southern California

15
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
249 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from Washington University in St Louis

16
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
183 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from University of Notre Dame

17
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
172 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

18
Emory crest
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
284 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from Emory University

19
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
344 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from University of California - Los Angeles

20
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
565 Annual Graduates

GWU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from George Washington University

21
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
409 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Bronx, Fordham U is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from Fordham University

22
Temple crest
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
239 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Temple is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in legal professions from Temple University

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
26 Northeastern University Boston, MA
27 University of California - Hastings College of Law San Francisco, CA
28 Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School Lansing, MI
29 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
30 Widener University Chester, PA
23 Boston University Boston, MA
24 Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA
25 University of Miami Coral Gables, FL

View the Best Legal Professions Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Major Annual Graduates
Law 36,216
Legal Research 153
Legal Professions (Other) 54
Non-Professional General Legal Studies 3

Related Major Annual Graduates
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 247

Notes and References

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options