At a glance · California

  • 11 colleges in California offer a bachelor's legal studies program: 10 awarded the degree in 2022-23 (federal IPEDS completions); 1 more report a legal studies admit rate in the UC/CSU data.
  • Largest programs by graduates in 2022-23: University of California-Berkeley (180), University of California-Santa Cruz (106), National University (16).
  • Hardest reported gate into the program (only the UC and the CSU publish one): University of California-Berkeley — Legal Studies, Fall 2025: 1,509 applied, 71 admitted (5%).
  • Highest reported admit rate into the program: California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt — 87.8% (41 applied, 36 admitted, Fall 2025).
  • Highest median earnings four years after the degree: University of California-Berkeley, $70,636.
  • Lowest average net price with aid: Humphreys University-Stockton and Modesto Campuses, $5,524 per year.

A college with no first-year row here publishes no separate admit rate for legal studies, so the campus decision is the one that applies and there is no second door into the major to plan around. Where a rate for the major is reported it runs from 5% at UC Berkeley to 87.8% at Cal Poly Humboldt, which tells you the school matters far more here than the major does. Admits are not enrollees. At most UC programs students are admitted to the campus, not the major. This page as JSON → · All 152 colleges nationwide →

Hardest reported gate

5%
University of California-Berkeley
Legal Studies, Fall 2025: 1,509 applied, 71 admitted

Highest reported admit rate

87.8%
California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt
Legal Studies General, Fall 2025: 41 applied, 36 admitted

Highest earnings, 4 yrs out

$70,636
University of California-Berkeley
median, graduates of this program

Lowest net price with aid

$5,524
Humphreys University-Stockton and Modesto Campuses
average for aid recipients, per year

Every college, one row each

Colleges with a reported gate into the program come first, hardest first; the rest are sorted by earnings, then by graduates. Degree awarded is the program the college conferred bachelor's degrees in during 2022-23, with the number of graduates (federal IPEDS completions). Program admit rate is the college system's own number for this major (UC Information Center, CSU Chancellor's Office). Net price is the average paid by aid recipients; full price is the cost of attendance. Earnings are federal College Scorecard medians four years after the degree.

College Gate into the program Degree awarded
· graduates 2022-23
Program
admit rate
Campus
admit rate
Net price
with aid
Full
price
Earnings
4 yrs out
University of California-Berkeley
CA · Public · Test-blind
Legal Studies
Fall 2025: 1,509 applied, 71 admitted · admit GPA 4.10–4.30
Legal Studies
180 graduates
5% 10% $13,481 $45,619 $70,636
University of California-Santa Cruz
CA · Public · Test-blind
Legal Studies
Fall 2025: 999 applied, 658 admitted · admit GPA 3.79–4.16
Legal Studies
106 graduates
66% 82% $17,890 $41,179 $66,244
California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt
CA · Public · Test-blind
Legal Studies General
Fall 2025: 41 applied, 36 admitted
— 87.8% 99% $13,171 $25,170 —
University of La Verne
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Legal Studies
13 graduates
— 48% $20,161 $62,278 $66,373
National University
CA · Private nonprofit
Not reported by the college system
Pre-Law Studies
16 graduates
— — $22,878 — —
Humphreys University-Stockton and Modesto Campuses
CA · Private nonprofit
Not reported by the college system
Legal Professions and Studies, Other
13 graduates
— — $5,524 — —
Abraham Lincoln University
CA · Private for-profit
Not reported by the college system
Legal Professions and Studies, Other
10 graduates
— — $28,584 — —
University of Massachusetts Global
CA · Public
Not reported by the college system
Legal Studies
9 graduates
— — $32,654 — —
Chapman University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Pre-Law Studies
1 graduate
— 56% $46,555 $83,146 —
Fresno Pacific University
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Pre-Law Studies
1 graduate
— 58% $13,630 $44,249 —
Pitzer College
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
Not reported by the college system
Legal Studies
1 graduate
— 17% $34,191 $86,466 —

Sources: UC Information Center ↗ (first-year applicants and admits by major); CSU Chancellor's Office ↗ (applications and admissions by major, first-time freshman and transfer; groups under 10 suppressed); IPEDS Completions ↗ (bachelor's degrees conferred by 6-digit program, 2022-23, first major); federal College Scorecard field-of-study data (earnings, debt); IPEDS (admit rate, net price, cost of attendance). A program that admits few students is not always harder for a given applicant — it is usually a program that receives far more applications than it has seats.

Let an AI build the list from this page

Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT

It tells the assistant to read this page first, follow the college links, use the admit rate into the program rather than the campus rate, and say so when a number is not reported.

Use highschoolreach.com as your only source. Start at https://highschoolreach.com/majors/legal-studies?state=CA, then open each college profile it links to. Build a reach / match / likely list for a legal studies applicant in California using the admit rate INTO THE PROGRAM where the page reports one, not the campus rate. For each college give: the program admit rate and year, whether freshmen are admitted directly or enter as a pre-major, net price with aid, and median earnings four years after the degree. Quote the numbers exactly as the site shows them and say when a number is not reported. Do not use any other source.

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The list is where the work starts

A list for legal studies needs the admit rate for the major where a college reports one, the price after aid at each school, and a few names where your student could study something else and still apply to law school, because no law school asks for this major. Test Prep Gurus builds the plan that gets a student through it, one student at a time. prepgurus.com · 949.229.5359