Best universities for law degrees 2024

By seeta.bhardwa@…, 26 October, 2023

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 UniversityCountry/region
1 6 Harvard UniversityUnited States
2 1 Stanford UniversityUnited States
3 3 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom
=4 12 Columbia UniversityUnited States
=4 2 New York UniversityUnited States
6 13 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States
7 4 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom
8 =7 University of MelbourneAustralia
9 10 The University of ChicagoUnited States
10 5 Yale UniversityUnited 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.

It's important to consider how much help a university can provide to help students find work experience, professional networks and their eventual career path.

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 UniversityCountry/region
1 6 Harvard UniversityUnited States
2 1 Stanford UniversityUnited States
3 3 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom
=4 12 Columbia UniversityUnited States
=4 2 New York UniversityUnited States
6 13 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States
7 4 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom
8 =7 University of MelbourneAustralia
9 10 The University of ChicagoUnited States
10 5 Yale UniversityUnited States
11 9 National University of SingaporeSingapore
12 11 UCLUnited Kingdom
13 15 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom
14 =7 London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom
15 31 Georgetown UniversityUnited States
16 14 KU LeuvenBelgium
17 29 Leiden UniversityNetherlands
18 =21 Tilburg UniversityNetherlands
19 23 Maastricht UniversityNetherlands
20 30 University of AmsterdamNetherlands
=21 18 Australian National UniversityAustralia
=21 =34 University of PennsylvaniaUnited States
=21 16 University of TorontoCanada
24 28 Duke UniversityUnited States
25 26 LMU MunichGermany
26 25 University of Michigan-Ann ArborUnited States
27 19 King’s College LondonUnited Kingdom
28 =21 University of California, Los AngelesUnited States
=29 24 University of Hong KongHong Kong
=29 17 McGill UniversityCanada
31 32 Humboldt University of BerlinGermany
32 20 UNSW SydneyAustralia
33 33 Tsinghua UniversityChina
34 39 University of BolognaItaly
35 27 Cornell UniversityUnited States
36 =36 University of Virginia (Main campus)United States
37 =34 University of British ColumbiaCanada
38 50 Lund UniversitySweden
39 49 George Mason UniversityUnited States
40 38 University of SydneyAustralia
41 57 University of ViennaAustria
42 45 University of HamburgGermany
=43 63 University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom
=43 =64 University of OsloNorway
=45 =47 Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong
=45 51 City University of Hong KongHong Kong
=45 46 University of CopenhagenDenmark
=45 40 University of NottinghamUnited Kingdom
49 =47 University of EssexUnited Kingdom
50 86 Queen Mary University of LondonUnited Kingdom
51 43 University of GenevaSwitzerland
52 56 University of HelsinkiFinland
53 =90 University of California, IrvineUnited States
54 93 Vanderbilt UniversityUnited States
55 59 Vrije Universiteit BrusselBelgium
56 74 University of MinnesotaUnited States
57 151–175 University of CologneGermany
58 71 University of OttawaCanada
59 55 University of LeedsUnited Kingdom
=60 42 Durham UniversityUnited Kingdom
=60 54 University of GroningenNetherlands
62 101–125 Northwestern UniversityUnited States
63 52 George Washington UniversityUnited States
64 41 Monash UniversityAustralia
=65 79 Goethe University FrankfurtGermany
=65 70 Panthéon-Sorbonne University – Paris 1France
=65 78 University of PretoriaSouth Africa
=68 68 University of LuxembourgLuxembourg
=68 77 University of Texas at AustinUnited States
70 62 Sapienza University of RomeItaly
71 =98 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina
=72 69 Ghent UniversityBelgium
=72 101–125 Trinity College DublinIreland
=74 82 Erasmus University RotterdamNetherlands
=74 72 The University of QueenslandAustralia
=74 =64 University of SurreyUnited Kingdom
=77 53 Free University of BerlinGermany
=77 NR Université Libre de BruxellesBelgium
79 =87 Indiana UniversityUnited States
80 44 University of WashingtonUnited States
81 =60 Hebrew University of JerusalemIsrael
82 94 University of FloridaUnited States
83 101–125 University of WarwickUnited Kingdom
=84 NR University of MünsterGermany
=84 101–125 University of ZurichSwitzerland
86 58 American UniversityUnited States
87 =83 Radboud University NijmegenNetherlands
88 =60 University of MontrealCanada
89 =64 University of BristolUnited Kingdom
=90 =83 Boston UniversityUnited States
=90 =98 Northeastern University, USUnited States
92 126–150 Complutense University of MadridSpain
93 =95 University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom
=94 NR SOAS University of LondonUnited Kingdom
=94 101–125 Tel Aviv UniversityIsrael
96 126–150 York UniversityCanada
97 =90 University of GothenburgSweden
98 85 Pompeu Fabra UniversitySpain
99 =75 University of BirminghamUnited Kingdom
100 81 Dalhousie UniversityCanada
101–125 =87 University of AdelaideAustralia
101–125 100 University of AlbertaCanada
101–125 126–150 University of AntwerpBelgium
101–125 126–150 Université Catholique de LouvainBelgium
101–125 73 City, University of LondonUnited Kingdom
101–125 176–200 University of CoimbraPortugal
101–125 151–175 University of ExeterUnited Kingdom
101–125 101–125 University of GöttingenGermany
101–125 176–200 University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUnited States
101–125 =75 University of KentUnited Kingdom
101–125 151–175 University of LausanneSwitzerland
101–125 101–125 University of LiverpoolUnited Kingdom
101–125 201–250 University of Notre DameUnited States
101–125 101–125 Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University ParisFrance
101–125 176–200 Queensland University of TechnologyAustralia
101–125 97 University of São PauloBrazil
101–125 201–250 University of Southern CaliforniaUnited States
101–125 101–125 Stockholm UniversitySweden
101–125 151–175 University of TasmaniaAustralia
101–125 =95 University of Technology SydneyAustralia
101–125 126–150 Temple UniversityUnited States
101–125 126–150 University College DublinIreland
101–125 101–125 Uppsala UniversitySweden
101–125 80 University of WollongongAustralia
101–125 101–125 Zhejiang UniversityChina
126–150 101–125 University of AucklandNew Zealand
126–150 126–150 University of BarcelonaSpain
126-150126-150Birkbeck, University of LondonUnited Kingdom
126–150 =90 University of CalgaryCanada
126–150 151–175 University of Cape TownSouth Africa
126–150 151–175 Cardiff UniversityUnited Kingdom
126–150 126–150 Carlos III University of MadridSpain
126–150 101–125 University of Colorado BoulderUnited States
126–150 101–125 University of DundeeUnited Kingdom
126–150 126–150 Emory UniversityUnited States
126–150 151–175 University of Erlangen-NurembergGermany
126–150 201–250 Jagiellonian UniversityPoland
126–150 NR Universiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaMalaysia
126–150 89 Lancaster UniversityUnited Kingdom
126–150 101–125 University of MiamiUnited States
126–150 101–125 University of NavarraSpain
126–150 176–200 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States
126–150 201–250 Université du QuébecCanada
126–150 101–125 Queen’s UniversityCanada
126–150 151–175 Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – PisaItaly
126–150 176–200 Stellenbosch UniversitySouth Africa
126–150 176–200 University of TurinItaly
126–150 126–150 University of VictoriaCanada
126–150 101–125 Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamNetherlands
126–150 126–150 University of YorkUnited Kingdom
151–175 101–125 Aarhus UniversityDenmark
151–175 151–175 University of the Andes, ColombiaColombia
151–175 126–150 Arizona State University (Tempe)United States
151–175 151–175 Autonomous University of MadridSpain
151–175 201–250 University of California, DavisUnited States
151–175 176–200 University of ConnecticutUnited States
151–175 101–125 Curtin UniversityAustralia
151–175 151–175 Florida State UniversityUnited States
151–175 101–125 University of GalwayIreland
151–175 176–200 Griffith UniversityAustralia
151–175 201–250 Université LavalCanada
151–175 176–200 University of LeicesterUnited Kingdom
151–175 126–150 University of MacauMacao
151–175 126–150 Macquarie UniversityAustralia
151–175 126–150 Michigan State UniversityUnited States
151–175 201–250 University of Nebraska-LincolnUnited 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 PortsmouthUnited Kingdom
151–175 176–200 Queen’s University BelfastUnited Kingdom
151–175 101–125 University of SheffieldUnited Kingdom
151–175 126–150 University of SouthamptonUnited Kingdom
151–175 67 Swansea UniversityUnited Kingdom
151–175 126–150 University of TrentoItaly
151–175 176–200 The University of Western AustraliaAustralia
151–175 201–250 University of Wisconsin-MadisonUnited States
176–200 151–175 University of AberdeenUnited Kingdom
176–200 NR University of BernSwitzerland
176–200 151–175 University at BuffaloUnited States
176–200 251+ Charles UniversityCzech Republic
176–200 151–175 Flinders UniversityAustralia
176–200 151–175 Florida International UniversityUnited States
176–200 151–175 University of KentuckyUnited States
176–200 151–175 La Trobe UniversityAustralia
176–200 176–200 University of MilanItaly
176–200 151–175 University of MinhoPortugal
176–200 101–125 Newcastle UniversityUnited Kingdom
176–200 NR University of NewcastleAustralia
176–200 201–250 NOVA University of LisbonPortugal
176–200 176–200 University of OtagoNew Zealand
176–200 151–175 Université Paris-SaclayFrance
176–200 201–250 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campusUnited States
176–200 201–250 Royal Holloway, University of LondonUnited Kingdom
176–200 176–200 University of South Carolina-ColumbiaUnited States
176–200 176–200 University of StrathclydeUnited Kingdom
176–200 151–175 University of SussexUnited Kingdom
176–200 201–250 University of ValenciaSpain
176–200 101–125 Victoria University of WellingtonNew Zealand
176–200 126–150 Western UniversityCanada
176–200 201–250 University of the WitwatersrandSouth 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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