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Best universities for law degrees 2024

Find the best universities for law degrees using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2024 data

    October 26 2023
    Law

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    Top 10 universities in the world for law 2024

    Scroll down for the full list of best universities in the world for law degrees

     Law rank 2024   Law rank 2023  University Country/region
     1   6  Harvard University United States
     2   1  Stanford University United States
     3   3  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
     =4   12  Columbia University United States
     =4   2  New York University United States
     6   13  University of California, Berkeley United States
     7   4  University of Oxford United Kingdom
     8   =7  University of Melbourne Australia
     9   10  The University of Chicago United States
     10   5  Yale University United States

    A law degree is the first step on a number of career paths – including a career as a solicitor, a barrister or a judge. Many universities around the world provide law degrees, so it can be difficult to choose the best one for you.

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    Times Higher Education has ranked the top universities for law degrees. Harvard University in the US takes first place, followed by Stanford University. A fifth of the universities in the law ranking are located in the US.

    The University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford are the only UK universities in the top 10. There are 53 UK universities in the ranking in total.

    The University of Toronto, in joint 21st place, is the highest-ranked Canadian university. Sixteen other Canadian universities feature in the ranking.

    Times Higher Education’s subject rankings are based on the same 18 performance indicators used in the overall World University Rankings 2024. However, the methodology is carefully recalibrated for each subject, with the weightings changed to suit the individual fields. The full methodology for law can be found here.

    Scroll down for a comprehensive guide to what you can do with a law degree, and the top universities in the subject.


    What can you do with a law degree?


    Top 5 universities for law degrees

    =4. New York University

    New York University’s School of Law was established in 1835.

    There are a number of graduate programmes available, as well as LLM dual degrees with other schools, including the National University of Singapore.

    The School of Law offers the JD for undergraduate students. Also offered are dual JD degrees in various fields such as taxation, international law, economics, history, philosophy or politics and French studies.

    =4. Columbia University

    Columbia Law School was founded in 1858.

    The school offers a range of programmes include the JD degree, the LLM programme, and the JSD programme. It also offers dual and joint degrees.

    The programmes at the university cover a range of study areas including criminal justice, environment and energy, law and philosophy and constitutional law, among many others.

    3. University of Cambridge

    The Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge offers six degree options at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

    Master’s courses include an MPhil in criminology, an MPhil in criminological research, a diploma in legal studies and a diploma in international law.

    The Squire Law Library at the University of Cambridge is one of the three largest legal collections in the UK, with almost 180,000 volumes. The collection is strongest in British law, but it contains collections on legal systems across the world including the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. There are also smaller collections relating to other countries.


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    2. Stanford University

    Stanford Law School is known for having one of the lowest student-to-staff ratios in the US, at 7.3:1. Students can choose from 280 different courses to specialise in the area that interests them.

    Law courses at Stanford begin with an overview in the first year covering criminal law, contracts, tort, and legal research and writing.

    The Robert Crown Law Library at Stanford holds about 500,000 books.

    Stanford law students run more than 50 student organisations, including the law and wine society, Stanford Law Students for Gender Violence Prevention, Women in Politics, and the Black Law Students Association. There are also 12 legal journals affiliated with the law school.

    1. Harvard University

    Harvard Law School offers wide range of courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

    The school has a range of resources and workshops to help students plan their careers in the legal field and experience various aspects of the profession while still studying. These include a spotlight on judicial clerkships, networking opportunities and career advising for both the private and public sector.

    The school also hosts the visiting scholar/visiting researcher programme, which accommodates a small number of legal scholars and researchers from around the world who are engaged in major research projects.


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    Top universities for law degrees 2024

    Click each institution to view its World University Rankings 2024 profile

    Law rank 2024  Law rank 2023  University Country/region
     1   6  Harvard University United States
     2   1  Stanford University United States
     3   3  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
     =4   12  Columbia University United States
     =4   2  New York University United States
     6   13  University of California, Berkeley United States
     7   4  University of Oxford United Kingdom
     8   =7  University of Melbourne Australia
     9   10  The University of Chicago United States
     10   5  Yale University United States
     11   9  National University of Singapore Singapore
     12   11  UCL United Kingdom
     13   15  University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
     14   =7  London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom
     15   31  Georgetown University United States
     16   14  KU Leuven Belgium
     17   29  Leiden University Netherlands
     18   =21  Tilburg University Netherlands
     19   23  Maastricht University Netherlands
     20   30  University of Amsterdam Netherlands
     =21   18  Australian National University Australia
     =21   =34  University of Pennsylvania United States
     =21   16  University of Toronto Canada
     24   28  Duke University United States
     25   26  LMU Munich Germany
     26   25  University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States
     27   19  King’s College London United Kingdom
     28   =21  University of California, Los Angeles United States
     =29   24  University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
     =29   17  McGill University Canada
     31   32  Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
     32   20  UNSW Sydney Australia
     33   33  Tsinghua University China
     34   39  University of Bologna Italy
     35   27  Cornell University United States
     36   =36  University of Virginia (Main campus) United States
     37   =34  University of British Columbia Canada
     38   50  Lund University Sweden
     39   49  George Mason University United States
     40   38  University of Sydney Australia
     41   57  University of Vienna Austria
     42   45  University of Hamburg Germany
     =43   63  University of Glasgow United Kingdom
     =43   =64  University of Oslo Norway
     =45   =47  Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
     =45   51  City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
     =45   46  University of Copenhagen Denmark
     =45   40  University of Nottingham United Kingdom
     49   =47  University of Essex United Kingdom
     50   86  Queen Mary University of London United Kingdom
     51   43  University of Geneva Switzerland
     52   56  University of Helsinki Finland
     53   =90  University of California, Irvine United States
     54   93  Vanderbilt University United States
     55   59  Vrije Universiteit Brussel Belgium
     56   74  University of Minnesota United States
     57   151–175  University of Cologne Germany
     58   71  University of Ottawa Canada
     59   55  University of Leeds United Kingdom
     =60   42  Durham University United Kingdom
     =60   54  University of Groningen Netherlands
     62   101–125  Northwestern University United States
     63   52  George Washington University United States
     64   41  Monash University Australia
     =65   79  Goethe University Frankfurt Germany
     =65   70  Panthéon-Sorbonne University – Paris 1 France
     =65   78  University of Pretoria South Africa
     =68   68  University of Luxembourg Luxembourg
     =68   77  University of Texas at Austin United States
     70   62  Sapienza University of Rome Italy
     71   =98  Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
     =72   69  Ghent University Belgium
     =72   101–125  Trinity College Dublin Ireland
     =74   82  Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands
     =74   72  The University of Queensland Australia
     =74   =64  University of Surrey United Kingdom
     =77   53  Free University of Berlin Germany
     =77   NR  Université Libre de Bruxelles Belgium
     79   =87  Indiana University United States
     80   44  University of Washington United States
     81   =60  Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel
     82   94  University of Florida United States
     83   101–125  University of Warwick United Kingdom
     =84   NR  University of Münster Germany
     =84   101–125  University of Zurich Switzerland
     86   58  American University United States
     87   =83  Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
     88   =60  University of Montreal Canada
     89   =64  University of Bristol United Kingdom
     =90   =83  Boston University United States
     =90   =98  Northeastern University, US United States
     92   126–150  Complutense University of Madrid Spain
     93   =95  University of Manchester United Kingdom
     =94   NR  SOAS University of London United Kingdom
     =94   101–125  Tel Aviv University Israel
     96   126–150  York University Canada
     97   =90  University of Gothenburg Sweden
     98   85  Pompeu Fabra University Spain
     99   =75  University of Birmingham United Kingdom
     100   81  Dalhousie University Canada
     101–125   =87  University of Adelaide Australia
     101–125   100  University of Alberta Canada
     101–125   126–150  University of Antwerp Belgium
     101–125   126–150  Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
     101–125   73  City, University of London United Kingdom
     101–125   176–200  University of Coimbra Portugal
     101–125   151–175  University of Exeter United Kingdom
     101–125   101–125  University of Göttingen Germany
     101–125   176–200  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
     101–125   =75  University of Kent United Kingdom
     101–125   151–175  University of Lausanne Switzerland
     101–125   101–125  University of Liverpool United Kingdom
     101–125   201–250  University of Notre Dame United States
     101–125   101–125  Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris France
     101–125   176–200  Queensland University of Technology Australia
     101–125   97  University of São Paulo Brazil
     101–125   201–250  University of Southern California United States
     101–125   101–125  Stockholm University Sweden
     101–125   151–175  University of Tasmania Australia
     101–125   =95  University of Technology Sydney Australia
     101–125   126–150  Temple University United States
     101–125   126–150  University College Dublin Ireland
     101–125   101–125  Uppsala University Sweden
     101–125   80  University of Wollongong Australia
     101–125   101–125  Zhejiang University China
     126–150   101–125  University of Auckland New Zealand
     126–150   126–150  University of Barcelona Spain
    126-150 126-150 Birkbeck, University of London United Kingdom
     126–150   =90  University of Calgary Canada
     126–150   151–175  University of Cape Town South Africa
     126–150   151–175  Cardiff University United Kingdom
     126–150   126–150  Carlos III University of Madrid Spain
     126–150   101–125  University of Colorado Boulder United States
     126–150   101–125  University of Dundee United Kingdom
     126–150   126–150  Emory University United States
     126–150   151–175  University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Germany
     126–150   201–250  Jagiellonian University Poland
     126–150   NR  Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Malaysia
     126–150   89  Lancaster University United Kingdom
     126–150   101–125  University of Miami United States
     126–150   101–125  University of Navarra Spain
     126–150   176–200  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
     126–150   201–250  Université du Québec Canada
     126–150   101–125  Queen’s University Canada
     126–150   151–175  Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – Pisa Italy
     126–150   176–200  Stellenbosch University South Africa
     126–150   176–200  University of Turin Italy
     126–150   126–150  University of Victoria Canada
     126–150   101–125  Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
     126–150   126–150  University of York United Kingdom
     151–175   101–125  Aarhus University Denmark
     151–175   151–175  University of the Andes, Colombia Colombia
     151–175   126–150  Arizona State University (Tempe) United States
     151–175   151–175  Autonomous University of Madrid Spain
     151–175   201–250  University of California, Davis United States
     151–175   176–200  University of Connecticut United States
     151–175   101–125  Curtin University Australia
     151–175   151–175  Florida State University United States
     151–175   101–125  University of Galway Ireland
     151–175   176–200  Griffith University Australia
     151–175   201–250  Université Laval Canada
     151–175   176–200  University of Leicester United Kingdom
     151–175   126–150  University of Macau Macao
     151–175   126–150  Macquarie University Australia
     151–175   126–150  Michigan State University United States
     151–175   201–250  University of Nebraska-Lincoln United States
     151–175   176–200  Ohio State University (Main campus) United States
     151–175   151–175  Penn State (Main campus) United States
     151–175   126–150  University of Portsmouth United Kingdom
     151–175   176–200  Queen’s University Belfast United Kingdom
     151–175   101–125  University of Sheffield United Kingdom
     151–175   126–150  University of Southampton United Kingdom
     151–175   67  Swansea University United Kingdom
     151–175   126–150  University of Trento Italy
     151–175   176–200  The University of Western Australia Australia
     151–175   201–250  University of Wisconsin-Madison United States
     176–200   151–175  University of Aberdeen United Kingdom
     176–200   NR  University of Bern Switzerland
     176–200   151–175  University at Buffalo United States
     176–200   251+  Charles University Czech Republic
     176–200   151–175  Flinders University Australia
     176–200   151–175  Florida International University United States
     176–200   151–175  University of Kentucky United States
     176–200   151–175  La Trobe University Australia
     176–200   176–200  University of Milan Italy
     176–200   151–175  University of Minho Portugal
     176–200   101–125  Newcastle University United Kingdom
     176–200   NR  University of Newcastle Australia
     176–200   201–250  NOVA University of Lisbon Portugal
     176–200   176–200  University of Otago New Zealand
     176–200   151–175  Université Paris-Saclay France
     176–200   201–250  University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus United States
     176–200   201–250  Royal Holloway, University of London United Kingdom
     176–200   176–200  University of South Carolina-Columbia United States
     176–200   176–200  University of Strathclyde United Kingdom
     176–200   151–175  University of Sussex United Kingdom
     176–200   201–250  University of Valencia Spain
     176–200   101–125  Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand
     176–200   126–150  Western University Canada
     176–200   201–250  University of the Witwatersrand South Africa

    Editor’s note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.

    This table was updated in December 2023 to retroactively include Birkbeck, University of London based on their provided data submission. More information on the university's inclusion can be found here


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