Best degree programs for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 45 schools train Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $55,570 median wage, 156,280 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 45 schools train legal secretaries and administrative assistants, graduating 366 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Legal Administrative Assistant/Secretary. The job pays a median of $55,570 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About legal secretaries and administrative assistants
Perform secretarial duties using legal terminology, procedures, and documents. Prepare legal papers and correspondence, such as summonses, complaints, motions, and subpoenas. May also assist with legal 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.
1 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 22.0301 | 366 | 100.0% | 45 | $37,542 | $25,166 |
Top 45 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What legal secretaries and administrative assistants 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $62,860 | 27,470 | 1.50× | 10 | 95 |
| Texas | $45,940 | 13,380 | 0.95× | 5 | 71 |
| Nevadalimited | $56,470 | 1,430 | 0.92× | 1 | 45 |
| Florida | $48,510 | 10,920 | 1.09× | 5 | 30 |
| Arizonalimited | $55,120 | 2,600 | 0.80× | 2 | 23 |
| Minnesota | $63,180 | 2,410 | 0.81× | 5 | 19 |
| Ohiolimited | $51,080 | 4,360 | 0.78× | 2 | 17 |
| Oklahomalimited | $45,950 | 1,290 | 0.75× | 2 | 16 |
| Washingtonmoderate | $58,360 | 3,950 | 1.11× | 4 | 15 |
| New Mexicolimited | $57,800 | 1,400 | 1.59× | 1 | 9 |
| District of Columbialimited | $99,280 | 1,940 | 2.75× | 1 | 8 |
| Indianalimited | $47,740 | 2,670 | 0.83× | 1 | 7 |
| Michiganlimited | $56,870 | 3,580 | 0.81× | 2 | 4 |
| Georgialimited | $48,460 | 3,260 | 0.66× | 1 | 3 |
| Illinoislimited | $52,790 | 8,030 | 1.31× | 1 | 2 |
| Kansaslimited | $36,620 | 1,600 | 1.11× | 2 | 2 |
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
- Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files.
- Mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials.
- Prepare and distribute invoices to bill clients or pay account expenses.
- Prepare, proofread, or process legal documents, such as summonses, subpoenas, complaints, appeals, motions, or pretrial agreements.
- Make photocopies of correspondence, documents, and other printed matter.
- Assist attorneys in collecting information such as employment, medical, and other records.
- Complete various forms, such as accident reports, trial and courtroom requests, and applications for clients.
- Receive and place telephone calls.
Skills
- Reading Comprehension4.0
- Active Listening4.0
- Writing3.9
- Speaking3.8
- Monitoring3.0
- Critical Thinking3.0
- Active Learning2.8
- Learning Strategies2.3
Knowledge areas
- Administrative4.5
- English Language4.4
- Law and Government4.2
- Customer and Personal Service3.9
- Computers and Electronics3.9
- Administration and Management3.2
Abilities
- Near Vision4.0
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Written Comprehension4.0
- Written Expression3.9
- Oral Expression3.9
- Speech Recognition3.8
Core activities
- Performing Administrative Activities4.5
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.4
- Working with Computers4.3
- Processing Information4.3
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work4.2
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships4.1
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Legal Secretary
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 22.0301Legal Administrative Assistant/Secretary
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 Legal Secretary?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Legal Administrative Assistant/Secretary, which awarded 366 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Legal Secretary?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Legal Support Services. Together they graduate about 366 people a year.
How much do legal secretaries and administrative assistants earn?+
The median is $55,570 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $36,500 at the 10th percentile to $91,730 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 legal secretaries and administrative assistants growing?+
BLS projects a -5.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 19,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
45 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 legal secretaries and administrative assistants work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Legal Secretary, Legal Practice Assistant, Legal Office Support Assistant, Legal Administrative Assistant (Legal Admin Assistant) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 43-6012.
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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