Best programs to become a judge in Arkansas
2 Arkansas schools offer programs that train judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates, graduating 245 people a year. Arkansas has about 240 jobs in this occupation (BLS OEWS May 2025).
BLS lists a doctoral or professional degree as the typical entry-level education for judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates. It also expects 5 years or more of related work experience. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Arkansas is Law (IPEDS completions).
Arbitrate, advise, adjudicate, or administer justice in a court of law. May sentence defendant in criminal cases according to government statutes or sentencing guidelines. May determine liability of defendant in civil cases.
1 program in Arkansas that leads to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Arkansas (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Arkansas page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 22.0101In Arkansas → | 245 | 100.0% | 2 | — | — |
Top 2 schools in Arkansas
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 2 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Arkansas at Little Rock Little Rock, AR Public · 1 feeder program | 128 | Law | — | 42% | — | 59% |
| 2 | University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR Public · 1 feeder program | 117 | Law | — | 71% | — | 74% |
All 2 schools in Arkansas
Every school in Arkansas with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arkansas at Little Rock | Little Rock | Public | 128 | 1 |
| University of Arkansas | Fayetteville | Public | 117 | 1 |
Fields of study in Arkansas that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
What judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates earn in Arkansas
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Concentrated here: Arkansas employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Arkansas, by employment
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates page.
How to become a judge
- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Arkansas
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 22.0101Law
Common questions
Answers for people weighing judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates programs in Arkansas.
What degree do you need to become a judge?+
BLS lists a doctoral or professional degree as the typical entry-level education for judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates. It also expects 5 years or more of related work experience. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Arkansas is Law (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a judge?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Arkansas is Law (IPEDS completions). In all, 1 feeder program graduates about 245 people a year in Arkansas (IPEDS completions).
Is demand for judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates growing?+
BLS projects a +2.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Arkansas?+
2 institutions in Arkansas reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Judge, Magistrate, District Court Judge, Superior Court Judge among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 23-1023.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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