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CIP 22.0101 Legal Professions and Studies

Law

IPEDS Completions, US Department of Education · 2025

中文

Total graduates

36,931

2025 · 210 schools

International share

3.3%

1,205 international students

Overview

Law is a discipline that encompasses the study of legal systems, principles, and practices governing society. It is a foundational aspect of social order, providing the framework within which individuals and institutions operate. Law students engage with various branches of legal study, including constitutional law, criminal law, contract law, tort law, and international law, among others.

The primary goal of a law degree is to equip students with the critical thinking, analytical skills, and ethical understanding necessary to navigate complex legal issues. Law programs typically involve rigorous coursework, including case studies, legal theory, and practical applications through internships or clinical experiences. Students learn to analyze legal texts, construct arguments, and understand the intricacies of legal reasoning.

In addition to theoretical knowledge, law education emphasizes the importance of ethics and professional responsibility. Future lawyers must understand the implications of their decisions and actions on clients and society as a whole. Many law schools also offer specializations, allowing students to focus on areas such as environmental law, intellectual property, or human rights law.

Upon graduation, students often pursue careers as attorneys, judges, or legal consultants, but a law degree is also valuable in various fields such as business, government, and academia. Law graduates are equipped with versatile skills, making them strong candidates for roles that require negotiation, advocacy, and problem-solving capabilities. Overall, studying law is not only about understanding legal codes but also about fostering a deeper appreciation of justice and societal values.

Graduates by year

Graduates by degree level (first and second majors)

AssociateBachelor'sMaster'sDoctoral

From 2002 to 2025, graduates fell 7% and the international share went from 1.6% to 3.3%.

International share (%)
Graduates by group, 2025
White
59.0%
Asian
7.4%
Hispanic
13.9%
Black
7.6%
Other
8.8%
Intl.
3.3%

Colleges that award this degree

In 2025, 210 schools awarded this degree as a first major. The table lists those in the 2027 U.S. News National or Liberal Arts rankings, plus the unranked schools with the most graduates.

RankSchoolStateGraduatesInternational
#3 Harvard University Massachusetts 603 44
#4 Yale University Connecticut 211 15
#5 Stanford University California 188 8
#7 University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 254 24
#8 Duke University North Carolina 230 23
#9 University of Chicago Illinois 215 8
#9 Northwestern University Illinois 292 34
#12 Columbia University in the City of New York New York 457 81
#14 Cornell University New York 197 46
#16 Washington University in St Louis Missouri 274 27
#16 Vanderbilt University Tennessee 168 6
#20 University of California-Berkeley California 283 25
#20 University of California-Los Angeles California 330 13
#20 University of Notre Dame Indiana 164 9
#23 Georgetown University D.C. 703 57
#23 Emory University Georgia 220 15
#25 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Michigan 343 8
#26 University of Virginia-Main Campus Virginia 304 8
#27 University of Southern California California 229 8
#27 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill North Carolina 184 2
#31 Boston College Massachusetts 212 20
#31 New York University New York 417 30
#34 University of California-Davis California 204 14
#34 University of California-Irvine California 155 9
#34 University of Florida Florida 215 7
#34 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Illinois 153 16
#34 Boston University Massachusetts 215 6
#34 Wake Forest University North Carolina 158 1
#34 The University of Texas at Austin Texas 307 12
#34 University of Wisconsin-Madison Wisconsin 252 8
#42 Villanova University Pennsylvania 184 3
#44 Case Western Reserve University Ohio 143 7
#44 Ohio State University-Main Campus Ohio 157 2
#49 University of Washington-Seattle Campus Washington 187 7
#52 University of Georgia Georgia 171 6
#52 College of William and Mary Virginia 199 8
#55 Santa Clara University California 200 9
#55 University of Miami Florida 383 16
#55 The Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania 221 9
#59 George Washington University D.C. 569 43
#59 Florida State University Florida 132 3
#59 Tulane University of Louisiana Louisiana 213 6
#59 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minnesota 222 17
#59 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pennsylvania 122 0
#59 Texas A & M University-College Station Texas 127 0
#69 Michigan State University Michigan 220 5
#72 Syracuse University New York 208 7
#73 University of Connecticut Connecticut 145 3
#73 Howard University D.C. 160 0
#73 Indiana University-Bloomington Indiana 164 25
#73 Rutgers University-Newark New Jersey 214 4
#80 Pepperdine University California 183 3
#80 Drexel University Pennsylvania 133 3
#85 Fordham University New York 420 11
#85 University at Buffalo New York 141 3
#85 Southern Methodist University Texas 225 3
#90 Yeshiva University New York 303 20
#90 Baylor University Texas 123 1
#90 Gonzaga University Washington 201 2
#90 Marquette University Wisconsin 174 0
#95 American University D.C. 401 8
#95 University of Illinois at Chicago Illinois 277 2
#95 University of Missouri-Columbia Missouri 123 3
#95 Rutgers University--Camden New Jersey 156 2
#100 Chapman University California 130 1
#100 University of San Diego California 234 3
#100 Florida International University Florida 160 9
#100 University of Iowa Iowa 161 12
#100 Saint Louis University Missouri 167 3
#100 Creighton University Nebraska 110 0
#100 Elon University North Carolina 135 0
#109 Loyola Marymount University California 305 5
#109 University of Colorado Boulder Colorado 157 0
#109 Temple University Pennsylvania 184 6
#109 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Tennessee 124 0
#116 University of San Francisco California 115 5
#116 University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Oklahoma 160 0
#116 University of Oregon Oregon 142 1
#116 Brigham Young University-Provo Utah 127 2
#121 Arizona State University-Tempe Arizona 290 9
#121 University of Arizona Arizona 95 1
#121 University of the Pacific California 146 0
#121 University of Denver Colorado 286 1
#121 Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois 230 7
#121 Loyola University Chicago Illinois 263 1
#121 University of Dayton Ohio 92 3
#121 University of South Carolina-Columbia South Carolina 192 2
#121 George Mason University Virginia 166 1
#137 St John's University (NY) New York 249 7
#137 University of Houston Texas 283 28
#148 Catholic University of America D.C. 112 1
#148 Mercer University Georgia 142 0
#148 University of Kansas Kansas 126 3
#148 University of Kentucky Kentucky 113 2
#148 University of Tulsa Oklahoma 114 2
#156 The University of Alabama Alabama 145 0
#156 Quinnipiac University Connecticut 123 0
#156 Florida A&M University Florida 113 1
#156 University of St Thomas (MN) Minnesota 147 5
#156 Seton Hall University New Jersey 203 4
#156 Duquesne University Pennsylvania 152 1
#169 DePaul University Illinois 158 0
#169 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Nebraska 144 1
#169 Touro College New York 145 0
#179 University of Louisville Kentucky 122 0
#179 University of Mississippi Mississippi 178 1
#179 University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Ohio 126 1
#179 University of Utah Utah 92 0
#179 Seattle University Washington 204 1
#186 University of Hawaii at Manoa Hawaii 101 3
#186 University of Detroit Mercy Michigan 186 64
#186 Wayne State University Michigan 128 2
#186 Texas Tech University Texas 136 0
#191 Samford University Alabama 141 1
#191 University of Arkansas Arkansas 117 0
#191 Georgia State University Georgia 196 1
#191 Drake University Iowa 115 3
#191 Hofstra University New York 260 2
#202 Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Louisiana 201 1
#208 University of La Verne California 88 2
#208 University of Idaho Idaho 135 2
#208 Ohio Northern University Ohio 49 0
#208 Willamette University Oregon 108 1
#208 Belmont University Tennessee 117 1
#219 Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis Indiana 208 3
#227 University of North Dakota North Dakota 73 2
#227 West Virginia University West Virginia 91 1
#236 Stetson University Florida 289 0
#236 University of Nevada--Las Vegas Nevada 119 1
#236 University of New Mexico-Main Campus New Mexico 102 0
#250 Nova Southeastern University Florida 208 14
#250 University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Massachusetts 99 2
#250 University of Missouri--Kansas City Missouri 126 0
#250 Pace University-New York New York 261 1
#250 University of Wyoming Wyoming 64 1
#262 Suffolk University Massachusetts 487 12
#262 Western New England University Massachusetts 85 0
#262 University of South Dakota South Dakota 80 1
#276 Widener University Pennsylvania 312 1
#288 Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Illinois 75 0
#288 University of Memphis Tennessee 96 0
#299 University of Toledo Ohio 92 1
#308 Northern Illinois University Illinois 109 1
#308 North Carolina Central University North Carolina 135 0
#328 University of North Texas at Dallas Texas 119 0
#332 Jacksonville University Florida 13 0
#332 University of Baltimore Maryland 204 1
#342 Mississippi College Mississippi 104 0
#342 Campbell University North Carolina 183 0
#342 University of Akron Ohio 141 4
#342 Cleveland State University Ohio 133 0
#342 Lincoln Memorial University Tennessee 108 0
#353 University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Puerto Rico 124 0
#365 Northern Kentucky University Kentucky 97 0
#365 The University of Montana Montana 81 0
#365 Liberty University Virginia 101 3
#376 University of Arkansas--Little Rock Arkansas 128 4
#376 Barry University Florida 241 1
#382 St. Thomas University (FL) Florida 202 4
#382 Southern University and A&M College Louisiana 231 0
#382 University of Southern Maine Maine 87 3
#382 Texas Southern University Texas 163 0
#382 Regent University Virginia 104 1
#382 Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce Puerto Rico 147 0
LAC #12 Washington and Lee University Virginia 110 1
LAC #21 University of Richmond Virginia 116 2
LAC #97 Lewis & Clark College Oregon 153 4
— University of California College of the Law-San Francisco California 355 5
— Brooklyn Law School New York 355 23
— Mitchell Hamline School of Law Minnesota 329 3
— New England Law-Boston Massachusetts 327 15
— South Texas College of Law Houston Texas 325 0
— New York Law School New York 312 12
— Southwestern Law School California 289 3
— Charleston School of Law South Carolina 212 2
— University of Maryland, Baltimore Maryland 208 1
— St. Mary's University Texas 208 1
— California Western School of Law California 205 4
— Inter American University of Puerto Rico-School of Law Puerto Rico 198 0
— CUNY School of Law New York 195 3
— University of New Hampshire-Franklin Pierce School of Law New Hampshire 192 5
— Albany Law School New York 190 1
— Loyola University New Orleans Louisiana 171 2
— Roger Williams University School of Law Rhode Island 170 2
— Thomas M Cooley Law School Michigan 143 4
— Oklahoma City University Oklahoma 140 0
— Vermont Law and Graduate School Vermont 132 1
— Capital University Ohio 125 1
— University of the District of Columbia D.C. 112 0
— Purdue University Global Indiana 107 1
— Atlanta's John Marshall Law School Georgia 105 0
— Washburn University Kansas 96 0
— Westcliff University California 92 0
— Ave Maria School of Law Florida 81 2
— Faulkner University Alabama 76 1
— University of West Los Angeles California 68 0
— Thomas Jefferson School of Law California 64 3

Purple: international students are 25% or more of the school's graduates.

Related jobs and pay

OccupationUS employmentMean hourly wageMean annual wage
Lawyers 754,500 $89.35 $185,840
Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates 24,030 $69.15 $143,830
Law Teachers, Postsecondary 20,060 — $144,770
Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers 16,370 $60.57 $125,990
Judicial Law Clerks 13,290 $35.07 $72,950
Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators 9,210 $43.76 $91,010

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025.

Graduate counts: IPEDS Completions, US Department of Education, 2002–2025. Rankings: 2027 U.S. News.