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A legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree leads to many career and edu­ca­tion­al paths. Some work in law enforce­ment, legal pro­fes­sions, or decide to attend post-grad­u­ate legal stud­ies. It’s an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary degree that draws from areas such as law, phi­los­o­phy, eco­nom­ics, and history. 

The inter­dis­ci­pli­nary nature of the degree means that there are a vari­ety of con­cen­tra­tions and elec­tives offered by schools around the coun­try. Stu­dents have the option to take legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­grams in sub­ject areas that inter­est them as a career field. The oppor­tu­ni­ty to find a legal stud­ies degree pro­gram that has class­es that fit per­son­al inter­ests can help a stu­dent find a career that suits them best.

Those who have an asso­ci­ate’s degree in crim­i­nal jus­tice can also ben­e­fit from trans­fer­ring into a legal stud­ies bach­e­lor’s degree pro­gram. Grad­u­ates from crim­i­nal jus­tice asso­ci­ate’s degree pro­grams fre­quent­ly go on to employ­ment in var­i­ous areas of law enforce­ment and relat­ed legal fields. Earn­ing a legal stud­ies bach­e­lor’s degree aids in the acqui­si­tion of valu­able knowl­edge that helps the stu­dent improve their career tra­jec­to­ry and gain access to pro­mo­tions soon­er than they would with­out an advanced degree.

For the Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter rank­ing of the best bachelor’s degree in legal stud­ies pro­grams, edi­tors focused on rep­utable, accred­it­ed insti­tu­tions known for qual­i­ty. We have ranked pro­grams accord­ing to cur­rent IPEDS and Niche data, includ­ing tuition rate, salary poten­tial, and reputation.

1. Auburn University

Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BA in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice with an aca­d­e­m­ic con­cen­tra­tion in Legal Stud­ies that is rec­og­nized as an Amer­i­can Bar Asso­ci­a­tion-approved (ABA) pro­gram. This Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies requires 120 bac­calau­re­ate semes­ter hours. Fea­tured class­es for this legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram include legal writ­ing, law office man­age­ment, tech­nol­o­gy in law, and a legal research sem­i­nar, to name a few. Grad­u­ates of Auburn’s legal stud­ies pro­gram pos­sess skills that include client or wit­ness inter­view­ing, delv­ing deep into legal research, and the draft­ing of a mul­ti­tude of legal doc­u­ments, plead­ings, and cor­re­spon­dence, among others.

Found­ed as an all-male insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion in the 1850s, Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty is the state’s flag­ship land-grant school, with very high research activ­i­ty. In addi­tion, Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty (is a space and sea-grant school with more than 30,250 post­grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate stu­dents study­ing online and, on the school’s, rur­al campus.

What We Like: Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the first land-grant school in the state of Alabama.

Degree: BA in Crim­i­nal Jus­tice — Legal Studies

Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty

2. Montclair State University

Mont­clair State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Jus­tice Stud­ies with three aca­d­e­m­ic con­cen­tra­tions. Avail­able emphases for Mont­clair State University’s Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­gram include an inter­na­tion­al jus­tice con­cen­tra­tion, a jus­tice sys­tems con­cen­tra­tion, and a para­le­gal stud­ies con­cen­tra­tion. Core course­work for Mont­clair State University’s legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram includes per­spec­tives on jus­tice stud­ies, the­o­ret­i­cal issues in jus­tice stud­ies and research meth­ods, in jus­tice stud­ies, plus an intern­ship, to name a few.

Estab­lished more than a cen­tu­ry ago (1908), Mont­clair State Uni­ver­si­ty is the Gar­den State’s sec­ond-largest insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing, with more than 21,050 stu­dents each year. Mont­clair State University’s cam­pus cov­ers more than 250 acres is locat­ed less than one hour from down­town Manhattan.

What We Like: Mont­clair State Uni­ver­si­ty was ini­tial­ly devel­oped as a teacher’s train­ing school and still is known for its qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion degrees.

Degree: BS in Jus­tice Stud­ies — 3 concentrations

Mont­clair State University

3. National University

Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Para­le­gal Stud­ies that is ranked as the num­ber one Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­gram in the greater San Diego area. This ABA-approved legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram from Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty can be com­plet­ed online or on-cam­pus. Upper divi­sion course­work for Nation­al University’s legal stud­ies degree includes the art of nego­ti­a­tion, com­par­a­tive inter­na­tion­al law, alter­na­tive dis­pute res­o­lu­tion, the fun­da­men­tals of nego­ti­a­tion, the fun­da­men­tals of medi­a­tion, and ethics & neu­tral­i­ty, to name a few.

Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates as a non­prof­it high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion with a stu­dent enroll­ment that nears 24,000 post­grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate stu­dents each year. Found­ed in the ear­ly 1970s, Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty main­tains a satel­lite cam­pus in Neva­da and mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es through­out the Gold­en State.

What We Like: Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty was pri­mar­i­ly devel­oped to serve work­ing learn­ers and adult students.

Degree: BS in Para­le­gal Studies

Nation­al University

4. St John’s University

St John’s Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Legal Stud­ies that is rec­og­nized as one of NYC lead­ing Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­grams. St John’s University’s degree can­di­dates enrolled in the legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram must fin­ish a min­i­mum of 120 semes­ter cred­its, of which 39 cred­its must be from the legal stud­ies cur­ricu­lum. Fea­tured course­work for this aca­d­e­m­ic bac­calau­re­ate degree includes legal research & writ­ing, civ­il lit­i­ga­tion prac­tice, and legal ethics, plus an intern­ship, to name a few.

St John’s Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in the 1870s by the Vin­cent­ian Catholic Church. St John’s Uni­ver­si­ty serves more than 21,000 stu­dents each year from its mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es across New York and internationally.

What We Like: Notable alum­ni include a New York gov­er­nor, New York City Police Com­mis­sion­er, the Chair­man of the Unit­ed States SEC, as well as many oth­er influ­en­tial politicians.

Degree: BS in Legal Studies

St John’s University

5. University of Southern Mississippi

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Mis­sis­sip­pi offers a BA in Para­le­gal that requires 120 to 124 bac­calau­re­ate cred­its to meet the Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Mis­sis­sip­pi stan­dards. In addi­tion, this legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram from the Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Mis­sis­sip­pi includes an intern­ship of 3 to 9 cred­its. This Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­gram offers two tracks – a pre-law track and a para­le­gal track that leads to employ­ment. Class­es for USM’s bachelor’s degree in legal stud­ies include Amer­i­can Gov­ern­ment, legal draft­ing, ethics, and the busi­ness legal envi­ron­ment, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Mis­sis­sip­pi (USM) was char­tered as a teacher’s col­lege in 1910 and now is a sea and space grant school. This research uni­ver­si­ty is home to more than 14,550 stu­dents attend­ing class­es online and on the mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es of the Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Mississippi.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Mis­sis­sip­pi offers near­ly 200 aca­d­e­m­ic and diplo­ma pro­grams from the university’s four schools/colleges.

Degree: BA in Paralegal

Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Mississippi

6. University of La Verne

The Uni­ver­si­ty of La Verne offers a BS in Legal Stud­ies pro­gram that is approved by the ABA. The Uni­ver­si­ty of La Verne’s legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree program’s major cur­ricu­lum must include a total of 46 cred­it units. The course­work for this Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­gram includes advanced research and writ­ing, tors & con­tracts, lit­i­ga­tion 1 & 2, Amer­i­can legal stud­ies, ethics, plus a senior project and para­le­gal intern­ship, among others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of La Verne oper­ates mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es and facil­i­ties in the greater LA area that is home to more than 7,900 stu­dents each year. Found­ed as Lords­burg Col­lege in 1891 by the Church of Brethren, the first class­es were held in a for­mer hotel.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of La Verne is com­prised of four col­leges that offer pro­grams in business/public man­age­ment, arts/science, edu­ca­tion, and law.

Degree: Legal Stud­ies Major

Uni­ver­si­ty of La Verne

7. Ball State University

Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BA or a BS in Legal Stud­ies pro­gram that offers degree can­di­dates two aca­d­e­m­ic legal stud­ies track – pub­lic law or busi­ness. Ball State’s Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents for a reward­ing career as a con­tract admin­is­tra­tor, court admin­is­tra­tor, para­le­gal, leg­isla­tive liaisons, or para­le­gals, to name a few. This legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram from Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty includes course­work in the prin­ci­ples of estate plan­ning, fam­i­ly law, legal research and writ­ing, and admin­is­tra­tive law, plus an internship.

Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty is a mul­ti-cam­pus pub­lic insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was found­ed more than 100 years ago in 1918. The school main­tains a main cam­pus in Muncie and branch cam­pus­es in Indi­anapo­lis and Fish­ers, Indiana.

What We Like: Ball State University’s ini­tia­tives in envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­i­ty have become a fun­da­men­tal part of the school’s strate­gic vision.

Degree: BA or BS in Legal Studies

Ball State University

8. Winona State University

Winona State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Legal Stud­ies that is rec­og­nized among the lead­ing Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­grams in the nation by bachelorsdegreecenter.com. In addi­tion, Winona State University’s legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram offers three tracks – a pro­fes­sion­al option, a law & soci­ety option, and the 3+3 dual master’s degree. Fea­tured cas­es include con­sti­tu­tion law, crim­i­nal pro­ce­dure, admin­is­tra­tive law, and legal research & writ­ing, plus an intern­ship in legal studies.

Found­ed in the 1850s as a state-run nor­mal school for teach­ers, Winona State Uni­ver­si­ty now oper­ates as a mul­ti­ple-cam­pus uni­ver­si­ty with cam­pus­es that serve approx­i­mate­ly 8,750 students.

What We Like: Winona State Uni­ver­si­ty has part­nered with many sis­ter schools through­out the world in Japan, Chi­na, Tai­wan, and South Korea, among many others.

Degree: BS in Legal Studies

Winona State University

9. Grand Valley State University

Grand Val­ley State Uni­ver­si­ty offers two of Minnesota’s lead­ing Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­grams with its Bach­e­lor of Arts degree (BA) pro­gram or a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Legal Stud­ies. Grand Val­ley State University’s legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram is ABA-approved. The dif­fer­ence between the BA and BS legal Stud­ies degree is that the BA requires a lan­guage pro­fi­cien­cy, where­as the BS degree requires sta­tis­ti­cal work. Sam­ple class­es include legal thought, civ­il lit­i­ga­tion, com­mer­cial law, and prop­er­ty & pro­bate law.

Found­ed as a state col­lege in the 1960s, GV now oper­ates mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es in Michi­gan as well as inter­na­tion­al­ly in Hol­land. This pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty is home to near­ly 24,100 post­grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate stu­dents online and on the university’s campuses.

What We Like: GVSU’s ath­letes play as Lak­ers and have won 20 nation­al cham­pi­onships in sev­er­al sports.

Degree: BA or BS in Legal Studies

Grand Val­ley State University

10. Quinnipiac University

Quin­nip­i­ac Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BA in Law in Soci­ety that requires degree can­di­dates to com­plete 120 to 126 bac­calau­re­ate cred­its to grad­u­ate. QU’s Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree program’s core require­ments includes civ­il pro­ce­dures, con­sti­tu­tion law, and the Amer­i­can Legal Sys­tem, plus an intern­ship. Grad­u­ates of the legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram find reward­ing careers in the court sys­tem, gov­ern­ment rela­tions, pol­i­cy devel­op­ers, legal con­sul­tants, or para­le­gals, to name a few.

QU oper­ates as a pri­vate insti­tu­tion that was found­ed by a busi­ness pro­fes­sor in 1929. The school oper­ates three cam­pus­es that serve approx­i­mate­ly 10,000 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: Quin­nip­i­ac is home to a nation-renowned polling insti­tute that is often cit­ed by major news sta­tions across North Amer­i­can & Europe.

Degree: BA in Law in Society

Quin­nip­i­ac University

11. Ursuline College

Ursu­line Col­lege offers a BA in Legal Stud­ies that is one of the most inno­v­a­tive Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­grams in Ohio and beyond. Stu­dents enrolled in Ursu­line College’s ABA approved legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram must com­plete core course­work in legal ethics, civ­il pro­ce­dure, evi­dence & dis­cov­ery, advanced legal tech­nol­o­gy, busi­ness orga­ni­za­tions, intro­duc­tion to legal stud­ies, and legal research/writing, plus a pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment sem­i­nar, to name a few.

Found­ed as a lib­er­al art col­lege by the Ursu­line Sis­ters in 1871 for women, Ursu­line Col­lege is locat­ed clos­er to Cleve­land but also near Akron. More than 1,150 stu­dents attend­ed class­es online and on the college’s campus.

What We Like: Ursu­line Col­lege is rec­og­nized to be one of the country’s old­est high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tions for women.

Degree: BA in Legal Studies

Ursu­line College

12. Lewis University

Lewis offers an ABA-approved BA in Legal Stud­ies, con­sid­ered as one of Illinois’s lead­ing legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­grams. The university’s Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies 128 cred­it degree pro­gram includes core class­es in legal research and analy­sis, the fun­da­men­tals of lit­i­ga­tion for para­le­gals, ethics, interviewing/investigation for para­le­gals, busi­ness law, tax­a­tion for para­le­gals, civ­il lib­er­ties, court sys­tems & pro­ba­tion, and crim­i­nol­o­gy, plus a cap­stone project in legal studies.

Found­ed by the Chris­t­ian Broth­ers and the Chica­go Arch­dio­cese in the 1930s, Lewis Uni­ver­si­ty now serves more than 4,500 under­grad­u­ate and post­grad­u­ate stu­dents. Lewis Uni­ver­si­ty is com­prised of six col­leges that offer more than 100 aca­d­e­m­ic and diplo­ma pro­grams – most­ly to adult learners.

What We Like: Lewis University’s notable alum­ni hail from diverse fields from government/law to sports, medicine/science, and arts & cul­ture, among others.

Degree: BA in Legal Studies

Lewis Uni­ver­si­ty

13. University of Toledo

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Tole­do offers a BS in Para­le­gal Stud­ies that is one of Toledo’s best legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­grams. In addi­tion, UT’s Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies 120-cred­it degree program’s cur­ricu­lum includes the law of busi­ness asso­ci­a­tions, fam­i­ly law, law prac­tice man­age­ment, civ­il pro­ce­dure, real estate law, practice/procedure in admin­is­tra­tive law, and estate/probate admin­is­tra­tion, plus an intern­ship. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Toledo’s bachelor’s degree in legal stud­ies is approved by the Amer­i­can Bar Association.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Tole­do was estab­lished as a school of the arts and trades in the 1870s and evolved to a man­u­al train­ing school before gain­ing uni­ver­si­ty sta­tus in 1914. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Toledo’s cam­pus is the north­ern­most of the mem­ber schools of Ohio’s uni­ver­si­ty system.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Tole­do is orga­nized into nine­teen col­leges, includ­ing UT online.

Degree: BS in Para­le­gal Studies

Uni­ver­si­ty of Toledo

14. Loyola University Chicago

Loy­ola Uni­ver­si­ty Chica­go offers a BA in Para­le­gal Stud­ies that is among the lead­ing legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree com­ple­tion pro­grams, requir­ing appli­cants to hold an associate’s degree for can­di­da­cy. The required class­es for Loy­ola Uni­ver­si­ty Chicago’s Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­gram include advanced top­ics in Amer­i­can Law, legal research, legal ethics, civ­il lit­i­ga­tion, and law office com­put­er appli­ca­tions, among oth­ers. The total cred­its required for LU’s bac­calau­re­ate degree in legal stud­ies is 120, deliv­ered in eight-week sessions.

Loy­ola Uni­ver­si­ty Chica­go was estab­lished in the 1870s as St. Ignatius Col­lege and oper­ates with an affil­i­a­tion to the Catholic (Jesuit) Church. Loy­ola Uni­ver­si­ty Chica­go main­tains sev­er­al cam­pus­es, with the main cam­pus­es along Lake Michigan’s shores.

What We Like: Many Loy­ola Uni­ver­si­ty alum­ni have become CEOS of major cor­po­ra­tions and influ­en­tial politicians.

Degree: BA in Para­le­gal Studies

Loy­ola Uni­ver­si­ty Chicago

15. Madonna University

Madon­na Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Para­le­gal Stud­ies that study.com ranks among the top Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­grams in the coun­try. The course­work required to com­plete Madon­na University’s legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram includes intro­duc­tion to para­le­gal stud­ies, alter­na­tive dis­pute res­o­lu­tion, spe­cial prob­lems in law, legal research and writ­ing, law office tech­nol­o­gy, law office man­age­ment, and real estate law plus an intern­ship, to name a few. This legal stud­ies bachelor’s degree has been approved by the ABA for near­ly four decades.

Estab­lished in the 1930s by the Feli­cian Sis­ters, Madon­na Uni­ver­si­ty now oper­ates as one of the largest Fran­cis­can schools in the nation. Madon­na University’s cam­pus cov­ers more than 80 sub­ur­ban acres and serves approx­i­mate­ly 3,500 grad­u­ates each year.

What We Like: Madon­na Uni­ver­si­ty is orga­nized into these colleges/schools – busi­ness, grad­u­ate stud­ies, arts/sciences, education/human devel­op­ment, and nursing/health.

Degree: BS in Para­le­gal Studies

Madon­na University

16. Southern Illinois University Carbondale

South­ern Illi­nois Uni­ver­si­ty Car­bon­dale offers a BS in Para­le­gal Stud­ies that has been ABA-approved for the past 25 years. South­ern Illi­nois University’s Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­gram requires these spe­cial­ty course­work class­es – fam­i­ly law, bank­rupt­cy, civ­il pro­ce­dure, wills, trust & estates, and law office tech­nol­o­gy, among oth­ers. Stu­dents enrolled in South­ern Illi­nois University’s legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram have the option of a pre-law spe­cial­iza­tion. The cred­its required to com­plete this bachelor’s degree in legal stud­ies from South­ern Illi­nois Uni­ver­si­ty are 120.

Found­ed in the 1860s as a teacher’s train­ing insti­tute, South­ern Illi­nois Uni­ver­si­ty Car­bon­dale now serves approx­i­mate­ly 8,100 post­grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate each year from its col­lege-town cam­pus and online.

What We Like: South­ern Illi­nois Uni­ver­si­ty main­tains aca­d­e­m­ic facil­i­ties in Edwardsville and Carbondale.

Degree: BS in Para­le­gal Studies

South­ern Illi­nois Uni­ver­si­ty Carbondale

17. NSU Florida

NSU in Flori­da offers a BS in Legal Stud­ies which is one of South Florida’s lead­ing Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­grams. NSU Florida’s legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram core cur­ricu­lum includes com­par­a­tive legal sys­tems, legal research & tri­al advo­ca­cy, argu­ment and debate, and com­par­a­tive legal sys­tems, to name a few. Elec­tive class­es from the phi­los­o­phy class­es include sym­bol­ic log­ic, the phi­los­o­phy of sci­ence, and the phi­los­o­phy of law, among others.

Estab­lished in the 1960s as an advanced tech­nol­o­gy pri­vate school, NSU Flori­da now serves more than 20,450 stu­dents as a space-grant school. Nova Southeastern’s ath­letes play in the NCAA Divi­sion II as the Sharks.

What We Like: In addi­tion to the main cam­pus in Fort Laud­erdale, Nova South­east­ern Uni­ver­si­ty main­tains cam­pus­es through­out South­ern Flori­da in Dania and Mia­mi Beach, plus a region­al facil­i­ty in Tam­pa Bay.

Degree: BS in Legal Studies

NSU Flori­da

18. University of Alaska Anchorage

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Alas­ka Anchor­age offers a BA in Legal Stud­ies that is rec­og­nized among the lead­ing Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­grams in Alas­ka. This legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Alas­ka, Anchor­age is approved by the ABA. Fea­tured class­es for the Uni­ver­si­ty of Alas­ka Anchorage’s bachelor’s degree in legal stud­ies include writ­ing com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills, crim­i­nal law, legal ethics, civ­il pro­ce­dure and pre­tri­al prac­tice, race, equal pro­tec­tion and the law, evi­dence inves­ti­ga­tions, and dis­cov­ery, plus a legal stud­ies intern­ship, among others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Alas­ka Anchor­age (UAA) was estab­lished in the 1950s as a com­mu­ni­ty col­lege. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Alas­ka Anchor­age main­tains sev­er­al cam­pus­es across the south­cen­tral region of the state. More than 15,000 stu­dents attend class­es online and on the Uni­ver­si­ty of Alas­ka Anchorage’s campuses.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Alas­ka Anchor­age holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the state’s largest school and a Tree Cam­pus USA.

Degree: BA in Legal Studies

Uni­ver­si­ty of Alas­ka Anchorage

19. College of Saint Mary

The Col­lege of Saint Mary offers a BA in Para­le­gal Stud­ies that is rec­og­nized among the lead­ing Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­grams in Oma­ha and beyond. The college’s legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram is ABA-approved. Stu­dents enrolled in the Col­lege of Saint Mary’s bac­calau­re­ate degree in legal stud­ies must com­plete class­es that include legal research and writ­ing, law office admin­is­tra­tion & tech­nol­o­gy, the legal envi­ron­ment, advanced busi­ness law, real estate law, and estates, trust, and tax law.

Found­ed in the 1920s, the Col­lege of Saint Mary oper­ates as a pri­vate women’s high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion with about 1,000 stu­dents attend­ing class­es on the Oma­ha cam­pus and online.

What We Like: The Col­lege of Saint Mary’s cam­pus in Oma­ha cov­ers more than 80 acres. The school became a four-year accred­it­ed school in the late 1950s.

Degree: BA in Para­le­gal Studies

Col­lege of Saint Mary

20. Stevenson University

Steven­son Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Legal Stud­ies that can be com­plet­ed 100% online. Steven­son University’s Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­gram is designed for work­ing adults who grad­u­ate to find reward­ing careers as a law librar­i­an, com­pli­ance offi­cer, para­le­gal, or leg­isla­tive assis­tant, among oth­ers. Fea­ture class­es for SU’s legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram include busi­ness orga­ni­za­tions law, civ­il lit­i­ga­tion & plead­ing, con­tract law, torts, and legal research/writing, among others.

Steven­son Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in the 1940s as a junior col­lege and now oper­ates as a mul­ti­ple-cam­pus high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion. The dual cam­pus and online plat­form serve approx­i­mate­ly 3,500 post­grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate stu­dents each year.

What We Like: the stu­dent enroll­ment of Steven­son Uni­ver­si­ty has more than dou­bled in the past two decades.

Degree: BS in Legal Studies

Steven­son University

21. Daemen College

Dae­men Col­lege offers a BS in Para­le­gal Stud­ies that is West­ern New York’s only legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram. Stu­dents enrolled in Dae­men College’s Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­gram are taught by the Socrat­ic Method, which resem­bles a law edu­ca­tion. Degree can­di­dates enrolled in Dae­men College’s para­le­gal stud­ies degree pro­gram must com­plete intro­duc­tion to legal skills for gen­er­al prac­tice, law for soci­ety, legal research and writ­ing, con­tract law, lit­i­ga­tion, and law office com­put­er tech­nol­o­gy, to name a few.

Dae­men Col­lege was found­ed in the 1940s as Rosary Hill Col­lege for women by the Sis­ters of St. Fran­cis. The college’s sub­ur­ban cam­pus is home to more than 3,000 stu­dents vying for near­ly 3 dozen aca­d­e­m­ic programs.

What We Like: Dae­men Col­lege applies a com­pe­ten­cy-based cur­ricu­lum that allows stu­dents to devel­op prob­lem-solv­ing and crit­i­cal think­ing skills.

Degree: BS in Para­le­gal Studies

Dae­men College

22. Hilbert College

Hilbert Col­lege offers a BS in Legal Stud­ies that is among New York’s lead­ing legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­grams. This Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­gram from Hilbert Col­lege is com­plet­ed in four years or eight semes­ters. Required class­es for this legal stud­ies degree include legal research, intro­duc­tion to law and legal ethics, civ­il lit­i­ga­tion, income tax the­o­ry and prac­tice, and finan­cial account­ing, to name a few. Hilbert College’s legal stud­ies degree is rec­og­nized to be the longest-run­ning pro­gram in NY’s west­ern region.

Hilbert Col­lege is a pri­vate Roman Catholic col­lege in the 1950s and named to hon­or Moth­er Colette Hilbert. Hilbert College’s Ham­burg 60 ‑acre cam­pus is home to about 750 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: Hilbert Col­lege plays Divi­sion III as the Hawks in fif­teen var­si­ty sports.

Degree: BS in Legal Studies

Hilbert Col­lege

23. Widener University

Widen­er Uni­ver­si­ty offers a Bach­e­lor’s in Legal Stud­ies that is one of the lead­ing Penn­syl­va­nia legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­grams with ABA approval. Widen­er University’s Bachelor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­gram offers degree can­di­dates sev­er­al con­cen­tra­tions in crim­i­nal law, lit­i­ga­tion, cor­po­rate law, health law, intel­lec­tu­al prop­er­ty, and estate admin­is­tra­tion law. Widen­er University’s legal stud­ies bachelor’s degree requires stu­dents to fin­ish a min­i­mum of 120 semes­ter units.

Widen­er was orig­i­nal­ly a boy’s acad­e­my in the 1820s. Two cen­turies lat­er, they now serve more than 5,350 stu­dents online and on the school’s cam­pus­es in Penn­syl­va­nia and Delaware.

What We Like: Widen­er has near­ly 60,000 liv­ing alum­ni, from sen­a­tors to diplo­mats, judges, and pro­fes­sion­al ath­letes, among others.

Degree: Bach­e­lor’s in Legal Studies

Widen­er University

24. Bay Path University

Bay Path Uni­ver­si­ty offers two of New England’s lead­ing Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­grams with BPU’s Bach­e­lor of Arts degree (BA) pro­gram or a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Legal Stud­ies with ABA approval. Grad­u­ates of Bay Path University’s legal stud­ies bach­e­lor’s degree pro­gram find reward­ing careers as a court reporters, a medi­a­tor, a para­le­gal, or a legal assis­tants, among oth­ers. Trans­fer cred­its are possible.

Bay Path Uni­ver­si­ty was orig­i­nal­ly Bay Pay Insti­tute in the 1890s. The uni­ver­si­ty offers coed­u­ca­tion master’s pro­grams, but only women can attend their under­grad­u­ate pro­grams. The university’s total stu­dent enroll­ment is approx­i­mate­ly 3,300 post­grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate stu­dents every year.

What We Like: Bay Path Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the mem­ber high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tions that com­prise the Coop­er­at­ing Col­leges of Greater Springfield.

Degree: BA or BS in Legal Studies

Bay Path University

25. Eastern Michigan University

East­ern Michi­gan Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Para­le­gal Stud­ies, rec­og­nized to be among the best Bach­e­lor’s degree in Legal Stud­ies degree pro­grams in Michi­gan. Foun­da­tion­al class­es for East­ern Michi­gan University’s legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram include social prob­lem, intro­duc­tion to the legal sys­tem, law office admin­is­tra­tion & tech­nol­o­gy, trans­ac­tion­al law, pro­bate, estates & wills, and civ­il lit­i­ga­tion, inves­ti­ga­tion, and pro­ce­dure, for a total of 124 bac­calau­re­ate cred­it units.

East­ern Michi­gan Uni­ver­si­ty is a space-grant school in the south­east­ern por­tion of Michi­gan in the late-1840s. In addi­tion, East­ern Michi­gan Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates as a space-grant school with a stu­dent enroll­ment that nears 21,000 stu­dents, study­ing online and on East­ern Michi­gan University’s var­i­ous aca­d­e­m­ic facil­i­ties and campuses.

What We Like: East­ern Michi­gan Uni­ver­si­ty has eight col­leges offer­ing pro­grams in arts/sciences, edu­ca­tion, grad­u­ate stud­ies, busi­ness, health, tech­nol­o­gy, and hon­ors college.

Degree: BS in Para­le­gal Studies

East­ern Michi­gan University

Para­le­gals, or stu­dents who plan to become a para­le­gal, should strong­ly con­sid­er earn­ing their bach­e­lor’s degree in legal stud­ies as it enhances their para­le­gal train­ing. An asso­ci­ate’s degree in para­le­gal stud­ies pro­vides an excel­lent edu­ca­tion­al foun­da­tion for becom­ing a para­le­gal, but a major­i­ty of grad­u­ates start in entry-lev­el posi­tions. Earn­ing a bach­e­lor of legal stud­ies degree gives a stu­dent more time and choice to fur­ther their stud­ies in an area of the law that appeals to them, and con­cen­trate in areas of the law that have cer­ti­fi­ca­tion exams to prove competency.

The best col­leges for legal stud­ies is one that suits your needs the best. Instead of apply­ing to col­leges that have a legal stud­ies pro­gram on the basis of rec­om­men­da­tions or rep­u­ta­tion, look for a col­lege that has a legal stud­ies pro­gram that offers class­es that align with your inter­ests. The nature of a legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­gram changes from school to school, and many have online options to help you attend a school with a cur­ricu­lum that offers class­es you want to take.

Not sure about the valid­i­ty of a legal stud­ies bach­e­lor’s degree pro­gram? You can con­sult with school coun­selors and pro­fes­sion­als into the field in order to deter­mine the cur­ricu­lum that is the most suit­able for your cho­sen career path­way. The best legal stud­ies uni­ver­si­ties are ones that have a pro­gram that’s been in exis­tence for at least a decade, has accred­i­ta­tion, and a proven track record of get­ting grad­u­ates into sat­is­fy­ing careers. These aspects demon­strate that the degree pro­gram is of excel­lent qual­i­ty, the cur­ricu­lum is effec­tive, and stu­dents earn an edu­ca­tion that pro­vides more than the nec­es­sary the­o­ret­i­cal and actu­al infor­ma­tion they need to be effec­tive in their careers.

When it comes to edu­ca­tors, the best schools for legal stud­ies are ones that hire pro­fes­sion­als who have decades of expe­ri­ence work­ing in the field and can par­lay that expe­ri­ence into teach­ing. The legal stud­ies field is one that cov­ers every­thing from para­le­gal stud­ies to law enforce­ment and draws upon dif­fer­ent dis­ci­plines for an advanced edu­ca­tion. The field of law in gen­er­al is one filled with nuance and isn’t as rigid as it looks from the out­side. The best legal stud­ies col­leges under­stand this and make it a point to hire edu­ca­tors who can teach from a book and pro­vide insight into what the work is like, what to expect from co-work­ers, and what kind of peo­ple they’ll be inter­act­ing with as they move through their career.

Is ABA Approval Important?

Yes, ABA approval for legal stud­ies pro­grams is impor­tant. ABA-approved legal stud­ies pro­grams meet the edu­ca­tion­al stan­dards of the Amer­i­can Bar Asso­ci­a­tion. Employ­ers rec­og­nize these wide­ly. How­ev­er, when look­ing at a legal stud­ies pro­gram, you’ll find that some schools call their para­le­gal pro­gram a legal stud­ies pro­gram instead. 

The ABA does not direct­ly approve legal edu­ca­tions out­side of lawyer and para­le­gal pro­grams. Instead, legal stud­ies pro­grams are rec­og­nized by the ABA through a process known as acqui­es­cence. That means a legal stud­ies bach­e­lor’s degree pro­gram is affirmed by the ABA and meets their stan­dards, but does­n’t receive direct approval.

Most legal stud­ies bach­e­lor degree pro­grams receive accred­i­ta­tion through region­al insti­tu­tion­al accred­it­ing agen­cies. If you’re unsure about accred­i­ta­tion from a region­al body, you can learn more from the school you’re inter­est­ed in attend­ing or vis­it the web­site of the agency for more information.

Relat­ed Rankings:

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Legal Studies

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Legal Studies

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Legal Studies