Best degree programs for Law Teachers, Postsecondary, ranked by enrollment
22 college programs and 261 schools train Law Teachers, Postsecondary. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $128,500 median wage, 20,060 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
22 college programs at 261 schools train law teachers, postsecondary, graduating 49,656 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Law. The job pays a median of $128,500 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About law teachers, postsecondary
Teach courses in law. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
22 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 22.0101 | 36,920 | 74.4% | 210 | — | — |
| 2 | CIP 22.0201 | 5,052 | 10.2% | 77 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 3 | CIP 22.0299 | 1,551 | 3.1% | 42 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 4 | CIP 52.1002 | 1,363 | 2.7% | 26 | $49,084 | $26,536 |
| 5 | CIP 22.0203 | 949 | 1.9% | 40 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 6 | CIP 22.0211 | 749 | 1.5% | 24 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 7 | CIP 30.2801 | 602 | 1.2% | 33 | $41,622 | $21,250 |
| 8 | CIP 22.0208 | 448 | 0.9% | 21 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 9 | CIP 22.0209 | 388 | 0.8% | 24 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 10 | CIP 22.0205 | 353 | 0.7% | 25 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 11 | CIP 22.0210 | 316 | 0.6% | 16 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 12 | CIP 22.0207 | 255 | 0.5% | 21 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 13 | CIP 22.0220 | 235 | 0.5% | 5 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 14 | CIP 22.0212 | 110 | 0.2% | 13 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 15 | CIP 22.0215 | 98 | 0.2% | 1 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 16 | CIP 22.0206 | 84 | 0.2% | 6 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 17 | CIP 22.0222 | 56 | 0.1% | 2 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 18 | CIP 22.0224 | 56 | 0.1% | 7 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 19 | CIP 22.0216 | 38 | 0.1% | 3 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 20 | CIP 22.0217 | 30 | 0.1% | 3 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 21 | CIP 22.0218 | 2 | 0.0% | 1 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
| 22 | CIP 22.0213 | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $61,570 | $24,936 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgetown University Washington, DC Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 1,447 | Law | 95% | $22,242 | 13% |
| 2 | Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX Public · 8 feeder programs | 1,341 | Advanced Legal Research/Studies, General | 84% | — | 57% |
| 3 | New York University New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 7 feeder programs | 931 | Law | 88% | $29,023 | 9% |
| 4 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 849 | Law | 96% | $15,315 | 4% |
| 5 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 794 | Law | 98% | $15,013 | 4% |
| 6 | George Washington University Washington, DC Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs | 732 | Law | 84% | $29,789 | 47% |
| 7 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 714 | Labor and Industrial Relations | 95% | $17,613 | 9% |
| 8 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 706 | Law | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 9 | Washington University in St Louis St. Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 588 | Law | 94% | $14,126 | 12% |
| 10 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 545 | Law | 93% | — | 9% |
| 11 | Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus University Park, PA Public · 4 feeder programs | 542 | Law | 86% | — | 61% |
| 12 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs | 536 | Law | 84% | $26,589 | 19% |
| 13 | American University Washington, DC Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs | 528 | Law | 75% | $30,225 | 62% |
| 14 | Suffolk University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 523 | Law | 61% | $28,895 | 82% |
| 15 | Fordham University Bronx, NY Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 513 | Law | 82% | $38,931 | 59% |
| 16 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 7 feeder programs | 459 | Law | 73% | $33,454 | 82% |
| 17 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 434 | Law | 97% | $22,055 | 5% |
| 18 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ Public · 8 feeder programs | 430 | Law | 68% | — | 90% |
| 19 | Florida State University Tallahassee, FL Public · 3 feeder programs | 415 | Advanced Legal Research/Studies, General | 86% | — | 24% |
| 20 | Pepperdine University Malibu, CA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 408 | Law | 83% | $41,986 | 63% |
| 21 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 3 feeder programs | 408 | Law | 85% | — | 42% |
| 22 | Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs | 398 | Advanced Legal Research/Studies, General | 0% | — | 67% |
| 23 | University of California College of the Law - San Francisco San Francisco, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 391 | Law | — | — | — |
| 24 | Mitchell Hamline School of Law Saint Paul, MN Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 375 | Law | — | — | — |
| 25 | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 369 | Law | 93% | — | 16% |
| 26 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 366 | Law | 79% | $36,488 | 45% |
| 27 | University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA Public · 2 feeder programs | 360 | Law | 96% | — | 17% |
| 28 | Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 355 | Law | — | — | — |
| 29 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 351 | Law | 95% | $14,799 | 8% |
| 30 | Widener University Chester, PA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 339 | Law | 68% | $29,049 | 71% |
| 31 | Yeshiva University New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 337 | Law | 83% | $39,696 | 56% |
| 32 | Duke University Durham, NC Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs | 334 | Law | 97% | $16,260 | 6% |
| 33 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 333 | Law | 89% | — | 27% |
| 34 | Boston University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 327 | Law | 89% | $21,956 | 11% |
| 35 | New England Law - Boston Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 327 | Law | — | — | — |
| 36 | South Texas College of Law Houston Houston, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 325 | Law | — | — | — |
| 37 | University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA Public · 7 feeder programs | 323 | Law | 85% | — | 39% |
| 38 | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN Public · 4 feeder programs | 322 | Law | 85% | — | 80% |
| 39 | University of Oklahoma - Norman Campus Norman, OK Public · 6 feeder programs | 321 | Law | 75% | — | 77% |
| 40 | New York Law School New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 317 | Law | — | — | — |
| 41 | Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 317 | Law | 69% | $27,376 | 73% |
| 42 | Stetson University DeLand, FL Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 310 | Law | 62% | $21,948 | 72% |
| 43 | Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 309 | Law | 75% | $19,899 | 55% |
| 44 | University of San Diego San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 309 | Law | 84% | $26,035 | 52% |
| 45 | University of Denver Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 306 | Law | 76% | $29,726 | 78% |
| 46 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 300 | Law | 96% | $13,333 | 4% |
| 47 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL Public · 4 feeder programs | 297 | Law | 91% | — | 24% |
| 48 | University of Houston Houston, TX Public · 6 feeder programs | 295 | Law | 65% | — | 74% |
| 49 | Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs | 294 | Law | 63% | $31,672 | 73% |
| 50 | Temple University Philadelphia, PA Public · 4 feeder programs | 294 | Law | 75% | — | 80% |
What law teachers, postsecondary earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $132,180 | 2,190 | 1.75× | 19 | 5,950 |
| California | $119,540 | 7,800 | 3.32× | 33 | 5,477 |
| Texas | $138,160 | 880 | 0.48× | 10 | 3,349 |
| District of Columbia | $134,090 | 670 | 7.39× | 6 | 3,100 |
| Massachusetts | $132,010 | 840 | 1.80× | 13 | 2,771 |
| Florida | $102,720 | 720 | 0.56× | 12 | 2,757 |
| Illinois | $107,700 | 470 | 0.59× | 11 | 2,569 |
| Pennsylvania | $121,310 | 710 | 0.90× | 11 | 2,520 |
| Ohio | $75,930 | 250 | 0.35× | 13 | 1,462 |
| Virginia | $136,270 | 400 | 0.75× | 10 | 1,452 |
| North Carolina | $97,090 | 450 | 0.71× | 6 | 1,180 |
| Michigan | $141,680 | 330 | 0.58× | 7 | 1,145 |
| Arizonamoderate | $131,950 | 60 | 0.13× | 4 | 991 |
| Minnesota | $171,790 | 80 | 0.21× | 7 | 932 |
| Georgia | — | 150 | 0.24× | 6 | 928 |
| New Jersey | $135,760 | 470 | 0.84× | 5 | 816 |
| Washingtonmoderate | $125,210 | 150 | 0.33× | 3 | 759 |
| Indianamoderate | $139,400 | 180 | 0.44× | 4 | 751 |
| Tennessee | — | 160 | 0.37× | 5 | 613 |
| Marylandmoderate | $139,980 | 180 | 0.50× | 3 | 476 |
| Oregonmoderate | $167,010 | 250 | 0.97× | 4 | 454 |
| Wisconsinmoderate | $140,940 | 150 | 0.40× | 3 | 440 |
| Alabamamoderate | $135,340 | 40 | 0.16× | 3 | 415 |
| South Carolinalimited | $162,400 | 110 | 0.36× | 2 | 404 |
| Iowalimited | $160,700 | 90 | 0.47× | 2 | 403 |
| Kentuckymoderate | $140,820 | 120 | 0.45× | 4 | 334 |
| Mississippilimited | $74,440 | 40 | 0.27× | 2 | 294 |
| Nebraskamoderate | $127,690 | 100 | 0.78× | 3 | 277 |
| Utahlimited | $68,270 | 120 | 0.52× | 2 | 272 |
| Arkansaslimited | $95,630 | 30 | 0.18× | 2 | 245 |
| Kansasmoderate | $138,670 | 50 | 0.25× | 3 | 245 |
| New Hampshirelimited | $157,800 | 90 | 1.04× | 2 | 236 |
| Idaholimited | $106,810 | 40 | 0.34× | 2 | 203 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $128,490 | — | — | 2 | 174 |
| Mainelimited | $136,400 | 50 | 0.55× | 2 | 120 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, papers, and oral presentations.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as civil procedure, contracts, and torts.
- Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
- Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
Skills
- Speaking4.6
- Reading Comprehension4.3
- Active Listening4.3
- Learning Strategies4.3
- Active Learning4.0
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Writing4.0
- Monitoring3.4
Knowledge areas
- Law and Government4.9
- English Language4.7
- Education and Training4.4
- Computers and Electronics3.3
- Communications and Media3.3
- Customer and Personal Service3.0
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.6
- Written Comprehension4.4
- Oral Comprehension4.1
- Speech Clarity4.1
- Inductive Reasoning4.0
- Deductive Reasoning4.0
Core activities
- Training and Teaching Others4.8
- Getting Information4.6
- Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others4.5
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge4.4
- Coaching and Developing Others4.3
- Thinking Creatively4.2
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Law Teacher, Postsecondary
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 25 majors mapped to Law Teachers, Postsecondary20 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 22.0101Law
- 22.0201Advanced Legal Research/Studies, General
- 22.0203American/U.S. Law/Legal Studies/Jurisprudence
- 22.0204Canadian Law/Legal Studies/Jurisprudence(no graduates reported)
- 22.0205Banking, Corporate, Finance, and Securities Law
- 22.0206Comparative Law
- 22.0207Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Law
- 22.0208Health Law
- 22.0209International Law and Legal Studies
- 22.0210International Business, Trade, and Tax Law
- 22.0211Tax Law/Taxation
- 22.0212Intellectual Property Law
- 22.0213Patent Law
- 22.0214Agriculture Law(no graduates reported)
- 22.0215Arts and Entertainment Law
- 22.0216Compliance Law
- 22.0217Criminal Law and Procedure
- 22.0218Entrepreneurship Law
- 22.0219Family/Child/Elder Law(no graduates reported)
- 22.0220Human Resources Law
- 22.0221Insurance Law(no graduates reported)
- 22.0222Real Estate and Land Development Law
- 22.0223Transportation Law(no graduates reported)
- 22.0224Tribal/Indigenous Law
- 22.0299Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies, Other
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Law Teacher, Postsecondary?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Law, which awarded 36,920 degrees in 2024-25, 74.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Law Teacher, Postsecondary?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 22 programs to this occupation. The largest are Law, Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies, Human Resources Management and Services, Dispute Resolution. Together they graduate about 49,656 people a year.
How much do law teachers, postsecondary earn?+
The median is $128,500 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $64,250 at the 10th percentile to $287,900 at the 90th. 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 law teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +2.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
261 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 22 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 law teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Instructor, Law Professor, Associate Professor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1112.
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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