Best Paralegal programs in Massachusetts, ranked by enrollment
Assist lawyers by investigating facts, preparing legal documents, or researching legal precedent.
14 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 266 people a year. The job pays a median of $77,640 in Massachusetts across about 7,800 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Massachusetts (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 Massachusetts page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Legal Studiesmain feeder CIP 22.0000In Massachusetts → | 162 | 60.9% | 6 | $39,558 | $25,252 |
| 2 | Legal Assistant/Paralegalmain feeder CIP 22.0302In Massachusetts → | 104 | 39.1% | 10 | $37,542 | $25,166 |
Top 14 schools in Massachusetts
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 14 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Massachusetts - Amherst Amherst, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 91 | Legal Studies | $36,181 | 83% | — | 60% |
| 2 | Suffolk University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 46 | Legal Studies | $44,354 | 61% | $28,895 | 82% |
| 3 | Mount Wachusett Community College Gardner, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 24% | — | — |
| 4 | Bunker Hill Community College Boston, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 13% | — | — |
| 5 | Middlesex Community College Bedford, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 23% | — | — |
| 6 | Western New England University Springfield, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Legal Studies | — | 64% | $29,327 | 83% |
| 7 | Bristol Community College Fall River, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 22% | — | — |
| 8 | Massachusetts Bay Community College Wellesley Hills, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 17% | — | — |
| 9 | Northeastern University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Legal Studies | — | 91% | $18,925 | 5% |
| 10 | North Shore Community College Danvers, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 18% | — | — |
| 11 | Bay Path University Longmeadow, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 6 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 44% | $16,859 | 85% |
| 12 | Lasell University Newton, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Legal Studies | — | 59% | $23,724 | 81% |
| 13 | Quincy College Quincy, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 15% | — | — |
| 14 | Cape Cod Community College West Barnstable, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Legal Assistant/Paralegal | — | 22% | — | — |
All 14 schools in Massachusetts
Every school in Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts - Amherst | Amherst | Public | 91 | 1 |
| Suffolk University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 46 | 2 |
| Mount Wachusett Community College | Gardner | Public | 27 | 1 |
| Bunker Hill Community College | Boston | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Middlesex Community College | Bedford | Public | 18 | 1 |
| Western New England University | Springfield | Private not-for-profit | 12 | 1 |
| Bristol Community College | Fall River | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Massachusetts Bay Community College | Wellesley Hills | Public | 10 | 1 |
| Northeastern University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 1 |
| North Shore Community College | Danvers | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Bay Path University | Longmeadow | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 2 |
| Lasell University | Newton | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| Quincy College | Quincy | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Cape Cod Community College | West Barnstable | Public | 1 | 1 |
What paralegals and legal assistants earn in Massachusetts
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $62,890. Massachusetts pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Massachusetts
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, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Paralegals and Legal Assistants page.
How to become a Paralegal
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Associate's degree
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Massachusetts
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Paralegals and Legal Assistants2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 22.0000Legal Studies
- 22.0302Legal Assistant/Paralegal
Common questions
Answers for people weighing paralegals and legal assistants programs in Massachusetts.
What degree do you need to become a Paralegal?+
Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Legal Studies, which awarded 162 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 60.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Paralegal?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Non-Professional Legal Studies, Legal Support Services. Together they graduate about 266 people a year in Massachusetts.
How much do paralegals and legal assistants earn in Massachusetts?+
The median is $77,640 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 23.5% above the U.S. median of $62,890. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for paralegals and legal assistants growing?+
BLS projects a +0.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 39,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Massachusetts?+
14 institutions in Massachusetts reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs 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 paralegals and legal assistants work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Paralegal, Legal Clerk, Legal Assistant, Paralegal Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 23-2011.
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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