Best Judge programs in Virginia, ranked by enrollment
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.
8 schools in Virginia run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,143 people a year. The job pays a median of $104,000 in Virginia across about 1,270 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Virginia that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in Virginia that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Virginia (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 Virginia page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 22.0101In Virginia → | 1,143 | 100.0% | 8 | — | — |
Top 8 schools in Virginia
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 8 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 304 | Law | — | 96% | — | 17% |
| 2 | William & Mary Williamsburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 199 | Law | — | 89% | — | 34% |
| 3 | George Mason University Fairfax, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 166 | Law | — | 68% | — | 87% |
| 4 | University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 116 | Law | — | 85% | $24,049 | 22% |
| 5 | Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 110 | Law | — | 94% | $11,983 | 14% |
| 6 | Regent University Virginia Beach, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 104 | Law | — | 57% | $18,677 | 38% |
| 7 | Liberty University Lynchburg, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 101 | Law | — | 65% | $28,911 | 99% |
| 8 | Appalachian School of Law Grundy, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Law | — | — | — | — |
All 8 schools in Virginia
Every school in Virginia 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 Virginia - Main Campus | Charlottesville | Public | 304 | 1 |
| William & Mary | Williamsburg | Public | 199 | 1 |
| George Mason University | Fairfax | Public | 166 | 1 |
| University of Richmond | University of Richmond | Private not-for-profit | 116 | 1 |
| Washington and Lee University | Lexington | Private not-for-profit | 110 | 1 |
| Regent University | Virginia Beach | Private not-for-profit | 104 | 1 |
| Liberty University | Lynchburg | Private not-for-profit | 101 | 1 |
| Appalachian School of Law | Grundy | Private not-for-profit | 43 | 1 |
What judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates earn in Virginia
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $153,990. Virginia pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Virginia employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Virginia
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 Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates page.
How to become a Judge
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
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.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Virginia
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 Virginia.
What degree do you need to become a Judge?+
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 1,143 degrees in Virginia in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Judge?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Law. Together they graduate about 1,143 people a year in Virginia.
How much do judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates earn in Virginia?+
The median is $104,000 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 32.5% below the U.S. median of $153,990. 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 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 Virginia?+
8 institutions in Virginia 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 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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