Law Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Law maps to BLS occupations averaging about $261,078, with roughly 92,580 workers nationwide in those roles. About 6,690 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 60%.
Key Statistics
Law: what the data shows
Common questions about law degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a law degree?
A Law program is classified under NCES CIP 39.3908 in the 39.0039 field family (39.39).
IPEDS counted 6,690 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
How long does it take to get a law degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 39.3908 in our file:
- 839 Associate (4.1% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 6,690 Bachelor's (32.4% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 13,003 Master's (63.0% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 97 Doctorate (0.5% of IPEDS total)—varies by program
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What do you learn in law?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Speaking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Complex Problem Solving, Judgment and Decision Making, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For Lawyers (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a law degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Law to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Lawyers | 747,750 | $151,160 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Law and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$N/A Median In-State Public
$22,800 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Law majors are, on average, $N/A for in-state public colleges, and $22,800 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Law programs.
Institutions awarding the most Law degrees
| # | Institution | State | Completions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liberty University | VA | 2,468 |
| 2 | The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary | KY | 823 |
| 3 | Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary | MO | 658 |
| 4 | Moody Bible Institute | IL | 581 |
| 5 | Dallas Theological Seminary | TX | 509 |
| 6 | Southeastern University | FL | 502 |
| 7 | New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary | LA | 439 |
| 8 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 432 |
| 9 | Word of Life Bible Institute | NY | 411 |
| 10 | Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary | NC | 402 |
IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), all award levels for this CIP in our extract.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
6,690 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Law from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Law.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Villanova University | PA | 7,005 |
| 2 | Colorado Christian University | CO | 5,363 |
| 3 | East Texas Baptist University | TX | 1,364 |
| 4 | Ozark Christian College | MO | 612 |
| 5 | Valor Christian College | OH | 352 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Law programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valor Christian College | OH | $9,892 |
| 2 | Central Christian College of the Bible | MO | $11,200 |
| 3 | Ozark Christian College | MO | $15,550 |
| 4 | East Texas Baptist University | TX | $30,050 |
| 5 | Colorado Christian University | CO | $39,266 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Law programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Christian College of the Bible | MO | $13,866 |
| 2 | Ozark Christian College | MO | $17,931 |
| 3 | East Texas Baptist University | TX | $23,790 |
| 4 | Colorado Christian University | CO | $25,458 |
| 5 | Valor Christian College | OH | $25,886 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Law programs.
Graduation Rates
59.85% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
58.66% Average Graduation Rate
181 Institutions Reporting
47.85% - 71.02% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Law programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Law is in TN (515 completions). That state represents about 7.7% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is TN (0.69% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| TN | 515 | 7.7% | 0.69% |
| IL | 496 | 7.4% | 0.36% |
| MN | 489 | 7.3% | 0.57% |
| FL | 433 | 6.5% | 0.19% |
| TX | 413 | 6.2% | 0.14% |
| CA | 390 | 5.8% | 0.09% |
| MO | 383 | 5.7% | 0.54% |
| AZ | 317 | 4.7% | 0.23% |
| VA | 317 | 4.7% | 0.26% |
| OH | 314 | 4.7% | 0.23% |
| IN | 274 | 4.1% | 0.27% |
| PA | 200 | 3.0% | 0.12% |
| NY | 188 | 2.8% | 0.07% |
| KY | 170 | 2.5% | 0.33% |
| OK | 156 | 2.3% | 0.37% |
| NC | 141 | 2.1% | 0.11% |
| CO | 128 | 1.9% | 0.18% |
| KS | 112 | 1.7% | 0.30% |
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 39.3908 in the survey year used in our extract (20,629 total across levels below).
- 839 Associate (4.1% of IPEDS total)
- 6,690 Bachelor's (32.4% of IPEDS total)
- 13,003 Master's (63.0% of IPEDS total)
- 97 Doctorate (0.5% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $261,078. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Law graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Lawyers | $261,078 | 747,750 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$261,078 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Law majors is $261,078.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Law majors.
Occupations by Share
92,580 2023 Workforce
The number of Law graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Law by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Law in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Law.
Age distribution for Law degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
6,690 Total Degrees Awarded
3,732 Male (55.78%)
2,958 Female (44.22%)
Gender distribution of Law degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
4,682 White (69.99%)
659 Hispanic or Latino (9.85%)
465 Black or African American (6.95%)
202 Asian (3.02%)
197 Two or More Races (2.94%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Law degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Law are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Law.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Law field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Law majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Law majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Law majors.
About
Law
In 2023, 6,690 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Law.
CIP Code
39.3908 - Law
What the data shows
Men earned 40.2% of 26,216 Law completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $261,078. The largest mapped role by headcount is Lawyers (747,750 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.