Best Online Pre-Law and Legal Studies Bachelor’s Degrees
The top online pre-law degree in our ranking is the University of Central Florida’s online B.A. or B.S. in Legal Studies, followed by UW-Whitewater and Texas Tech. We ranked 25 fully online programs on two federal figures: how many entering students earn a degree or certificate within eight years, and the average net price.
An online degree pays off only if you finish it at a price you can carry. Among the 198 schools that awarded a legal studies or pre-law bachelor’s degree between July 2024 and June 2025, the share of entering students who earned a degree or certificate there within eight years ran from 16% to 97%, and average net price ran from $4,082 to $51,624 a year. This list ranks fully online programs on those two figures, both from the U.S. Department of Education, so you can check every number yourself.
How We Chose These Schools
A program made the list if it met all of these conditions, checked on the school’s own website as of November 2026:
- Degree title: a bachelor’s degree titled legal studies, law, pre-law, or law and society, or a pre-law track the school itself names inside another major. Paralegal-titled degrees aren’t included, and each school gets one entry.
- Format: every required course is available online, with no required campus visits. Live online classes count as online.
- Entry: you can start with no prior college credit. Degree-completion programs, which require an associate degree or a block of transfer credit, aren’t ranked.
- Accreditation: the school is accredited by an agency the U.S. Department of Education recognizes. Public, private nonprofit, and for-profit schools are all eligible.
- Location: the 50 states and D.C.
How the Score Works
Each school’s score combines two figures that the Department of Education publishes on College Navigator:
- 8-year award rate (60% of the score): the share of all undergraduates seeking a degree or certificate who started at the school between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017, and earned one there by August 31, 2024. It combines four groups of entering students: first-time and transfer, full-time and part-time. That matters because many online students are part time, transfers, or both. It’s a school-wide figure, not a completion rate for the program, and a degree earned after transferring to another school doesn’t count.
- Average net price (40% of the score): the estimated cost of attendance for 2023-24, including tuition, fees, books, and living expenses, minus the average grant and scholarship aid, for first-time, full-time undergraduates who received that aid. At public schools it’s the in-state figure. It covers the whole school, not the online program alone, and it isn’t a tuition bill.
Each figure goes on a 0 to 100 scale measured against all 198 schools. For the award rate, 0 is the lowest rate among them (16%) and 100 is the highest (97%). For net price, 100 is the lowest ($4,082) and 0 is the highest ($51,624). The score is 60% of the first number plus 40% of the second, rounded to one decimal, and schools with the same score share a rank. For example, UCF’s 72% award rate scales to 69.1 and its $13,351 net price scales to 80.5, for a score of 73.7.
Schools missing either figure were left out of the ranking. That leaves out some well-known online programs: ASU Online (no net price is reported for it), Golden Gate University, City University of Seattle, and Northeastern University’s online division. Herzing University and Berkeley College report each campus separately, so no single set of figures covers their online students, and Georgia’s eMajor offers an online criminal justice degree, with a pre-law concentration described on its site, through several University System of Georgia schools, so no one school’s figures cover it. Degree-completion versions, such as the online version of UNC Greensboro’s pre-law program, aren’t ranked either.
To check any school yourself, search for it on College Navigator and open its Outcome Measures and Net Price sections.
The 25 Best Online Pre-Law Schools and Online Legal Studies Degrees
Schools are listed by score, highest first. Both figures cover the whole school, with net price for 2023-24.
| Rank | School (State) | 8-Year Award Rate | Average Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Central Florida (FL) | 72% | $13,351 |
| 2 | University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (WI) | 64% | $12,709 |
| 3 | Texas Tech University (TX) | 67% | $16,919 |
| 4 | Humphreys University (CA) | 52% | $5,524 |
| 5 | Ohio University (OH) | 69% | $21,907 |
| 6 | University of Arizona (AZ) | 63% | $19,055 |
| 7 | SUNY Canton (NY) | 54% | $14,754 |
| 8 | Clayton State University (GA) | 46% | $8,192 |
| 9 | University of Memphis (TN) | 51% | $12,756 |
| 10 | Stevenson University (MD) | 64% | $27,162 |
| 11 | Pennsylvania Western University (PA) | 53% | $18,094 |
| 12 | Colorado State University Global (CO) | 46% | $16,510 |
| 13 | Crestpoint University (AZ) | 43% | $14,930 |
| 14 | University of Massachusetts Global (CA) | 55% | $30,523 |
| 15 | Faulkner University (AL) | 42% | $19,920 |
| 16 | Webster University (MO) | 51% | $29,503 |
| 17 | Penn State World Campus (PA) | 38% | $19,314 |
| 18 | National University (CA) | 44% | $25,043 |
| 19 | Florida National University (FL) | 41% | $23,043 |
| 20 | University of Alaska Anchorage (AK) | 33% | $16,039 |
| 21 | American Public University System (WV) | 28% | $12,260 |
| 22 | Liberty University (VA) | 47% | $29,532 |
| 23 | Paul Quinn College (TX) | 27% | $12,709 |
| 24 | University of Maryland Global Campus (MD) | 32% | $19,241 |
| 25 | Regent University (VA) | 32% | $20,512 |
Profiles of the Top 10 Programs
Tuition in each profile is the school’s own per-credit rate as of November 2026, which is what you’d see on a bill. It’s a different number from net price, which averages what aided first-time students paid across the whole school.
1. University of Central Florida
- Degree: B.A. or B.S. in Legal Studies
- Format: Fully online through UCF Online
- Credits: 120
- Tuition: $179.19 per credit hour for Florida residents, $857.98 for nonresidents (UCF Online, 2026-27)
- School type: Public
- Accreditor: Higher Learning Commission (since 2025)
- 8-year award rate: 72%
- Average net price (2023-24): $13,351
- Score: 73.7 of 100
UCF offers the same legal studies major as a B.A. or a B.S. The difference is the language requirement: the B.A. requires two semesters of college foreign language, and the B.S. requires two years of high school language. The language requirement can also be met through approved proficiency options. UCF says its legal studies core courses run online every semester, though not every elective or prerequisite is offered online, and it describes itself as the only public university in Florida with an online undergraduate legal studies program. Its nonresident online rate is nearly five times the resident rate, and the net price figure is the in-state one, so the ranking fits Florida residents best.
2. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
- Degree: B.A. or B.S. in Legal Studies
- Format: Fully online, with no requirement to come to campus
- Credits: At least 120 (the university’s minimum for a bachelor’s degree)
- Tuition: $424.82 per credit for Wisconsin residents, $845.68 for nonresidents (2026-27)
- School type: Public
- Accreditor: Higher Learning Commission
- 8-year award rate: 64%
- Average net price (2023-24): $12,709
- Score: 68.3 of 100
UW-Whitewater says every required course is offered online, though not every elective is. The major requires an internship of at least three credits in a legal setting, such as a court, a law firm, or a legal advocacy group, so plan for a placement where you live. Core courses include legal research and writing, the judicial process, and law and society.
3. Texas Tech University
- Degree: B.A. in Legal Studies
- Format: Fully online and asynchronous, in 8-week sessions
- Credits: 120
- Tuition: $415 to $500 per credit hour, depending on residency (Texas Tech Online estimate, as of November 2026)
- School type: Public
- Accreditor: The Commission on Colleges and Universities (the public name since September 1, 2026, of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACSCOC)
- 8-year award rate: 67%
- Average net price (2023-24): $16,919
- Score: 67.0 of 100
Texas Tech’s online B.A. runs in accelerated 8-week sessions with no set class times. The school describes internships and mock trials as opportunities for hands-on learning, and the program ends in a capstone research project on a narrow legal question. Texas Tech also offers a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in Legal Studies, designed for students transferring applied or technical college credit.
4. Humphreys University
- Degree: B.A. in Legal Studies
- Format: Online, virtual, or on campus (the school lists all three formats)
- Credits: 181 quarter units
- Tuition: $375 per quarter unit (2025-26 schedule, effective July 1, 2025)
- School type: Private nonprofit
- Accreditor: WASC Senior College and University Commission
- 8-year award rate: 52%
- Average net price (2023-24): $5,524
- Score: 65.5 of 100
Humphreys has the lowest average net price in the top 10, which carries it to fourth despite a 52% award rate. It runs on quarters, so its 181 units don’t compare one-for-one with semester credits at the other schools. Humphreys also runs a transfer pathway into its own Drivon School of Law, which prepares students for the California Bar Examination. Under the pathway, nine bachelor’s courses count toward the law degree, though admission to the law school isn’t automatic.
5. Ohio University
- Degree: B.A. in Sociology, Pre-Law track
- Format: Fully online through OHIO Online
- Credits: 120
- Tuition: $349 per credit hour for Ohio residents, $359 for nonresidents (new OHIO Online students, 2026-27. Legacy rates and some fees differ.)
- School type: Public
- Accreditor: Higher Learning Commission
- 8-year award rate: 69%
- Average net price (2023-24): $21,907
- Score: 64.3 of 100
This is a sociology degree with a pre-law track, the only program in the top 10 built that way. Ohio University says the track covers the social and legal processes and institutions through which people, families, and communities get justice. Its 69% award rate is the second highest in the top 10, and its nonresident rate is only $10 a credit above the resident rate.
6. University of Arizona
- Degree: B.A. in Law
- Format: Fully online through Arizona Online
- Credits: 120
- Tuition: $525 per credit (Arizona Online, as of November 2026)
- School type: Public
- Accreditor: WASC Senior College and University Commission (since 2023)
- 8-year award rate: 63%
- Average net price (2023-24): $19,055
- Score: 62.2 of 100
Arizona’s B.A. in Law is offered with the university’s College of Law. It offers coursework that may help you meet the educational requirements for Arizona Legal Paraprofessional (LP) licensure. The degree doesn’t license you: applicants must also meet Arizona’s eligibility rules, pass the Legal Paraprofessional Core Examination and the applicable practice-area exam, clear fingerprinting, and be licensed by Arizona’s judicial branch, and LPs may practice only in authorized areas in Arizona. At least 18 units of the law coursework must be taken at the University of Arizona, which matters if you plan to transfer in credit.
7. SUNY Canton
- Degree: B.S. in Legal Studies
- Format: 100% online
- Credits: 126
- Tuition: $295 per credit hour for New York residents, $353 for out-of-state online students (2026-27)
- School type: Public
- Accreditor: Middle States Commission on Higher Education
- 8-year award rate: 54%
- Average net price (2023-24): $14,754
- Score: 59.2 of 100
SUNY Canton calls legal studies one of its signature online programs. Out-of-state students who take only online courses and meet the college’s residency conditions pay $353 a credit instead of $729. A 3+3 agreement with the University at Buffalo School of Law, which runs through June 2028, can let students finish a bachelor’s degree and a J.D. in six years instead of seven. Eligibility includes a 3.5 GPA, specified coursework, an application, and a minimum LSAT score, so admission isn’t automatic.
8. Clayton State University
- Degree: B.S. in Legal Studies
- Format: Fully online, with at least nine credits of legal specialty courses taken face to face or in scheduled live online classes
- Credits: 120
- Tuition: $176 per credit hour (eTuition) plus a $308 online learning fee per semester (2026-27)
- Paralegal option: ABA-approved, and the degree includes every course in the school’s Paralegal Studies Certificate
- School type: Public
- Accreditor: The Commission on Colleges and Universities (the public name since September 1, 2026, of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACSCOC)
- 8-year award rate: 46%
- Average net price (2023-24): $8,192
- Score: 58.8 of 100
Clayton State’s legal studies program is approved by the ABA as a paralegal education program, and the B.S. includes every course in its Paralegal Studies Certificate. That approval covers paralegal training, not law school. Its net price is the second lowest in the top 10, though its 46% award rate is the lowest of the ten.
9. University of Memphis
- Degree: Bachelor of Professional Studies, Legal Studies
- Format: Fully online through UofM Global
- Credits: 120
- Tuition: $490 per credit hour for UofM Global undergraduates, any residency (2026-27)
- School type: Public
- Accreditor: The Commission on Colleges and Universities (the public name since September 1, 2026, of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACSCOC)
- 8-year award rate: 51%
- Average net price (2023-24): $12,756
- Score: 58.6 of 100
Memphis offers legal studies through its Bachelor of Professional Studies, entirely online through UofM Global. The curriculum centers on four disciplines the school names “Theory, Process, Application, and Ethics of Law,” “Legal and Administrative Research and Investigation,” “Law-Related Technologies,” and “Professional Decorum and Communication Skills.” Highly qualified students can apply to a 3+3 program with the university’s Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, which combines the bachelor’s degree and the J.D. in six years.
10. Stevenson University
- Degree: B.S. in Legal Studies
- Format: Online, mostly self-paced, with at least nine credits of legal specialty courses in scheduled live online classes
- Credits: 120
- Tuition: $470 per credit, with no added fees (Stevenson University Online, as of November 2026)
- School type: Private nonprofit
- Accreditor: Middle States Commission on Higher Education
- Paralegal option: ABA-approved paralegal program
- 8-year award rate: 64%
- Average net price (2023-24): $27,162
- Score: 56.1 of 100
Stevenson’s online B.S. mixes self-paced courses with at least nine credits of legal specialty courses taught live online on a set schedule, with no campus attendance. Coursework includes torts, contract law, estates and trusts, legal research and writing, and business organizations law, and the degree ends in a legal studies capstone. Its 64% award rate ties UW-Whitewater’s for fourth in the top 10, but its net price is the highest of the ten.
Legal Studies, Pre-Law, or Law and Society: What the Degree Title Tells You
Most programs on this list are online legal studies degrees. A few use other titles: National University’s B.A. in Pre-Law Studies, Arizona’s and Regent’s B.A. in Law, Penn State World Campus’s B.A. in Law and Society, and Paul Quinn’s B.A. in Legal Studies & Criminology. The title tells you what the school emphasizes. It doesn’t change what law schools require, and none of these degrees qualifies you to practice law.
Many legal studies degrees lean practical, with courses in legal research, writing, and litigation. Schools often name paralegal work as one outcome alongside law school. If law school is your goal, look for courses in legal reasoning, constitutional law, and writing, and check whether the program offers a 3+3 track with a law school, as Memphis and SUNY Canton do.
Legal Studies Degrees With a Paralegal Concentration
Several schools on the list run paralegal programs approved by the ABA, including Clayton State, Stevenson, Faulkner, Webster, and Alaska Anchorage. UMass Global offers a Paralegal Profession Concentration within its B.A. in Legal Studies, which it describes as preparation for NFPA’s Paralegal CORE Competency Exam (PCCE) and NALA’s Certified Paralegal exam. ABA approval of a paralegal program is a different thing from ABA approval of a law school. ABA approval of a paralegal education program doesn’t make graduates certified paralegals, doesn’t license them to practice law, and doesn’t establish eligibility for admission to an ABA-approved law school.
Paralegal credentials come from professional organizations. The Certified Paralegal (CP) credential is administered by NALA, and the Registered Paralegal (RP) credential is administered by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) through its Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam (PACE). These are professional credentials, not licenses to practice law, and state rules on paralegal work, registration, certification, and limited legal practice vary.
ABA-approved paralegal programs often require some live instruction. Clayton State and Webster, for example, require at least nine credits of legal specialty courses in a classroom or in scheduled live online classes. Stevenson sets the same rule for its online students, and Faulkner requires at least nine hours of legal specialty courses in a classroom or through live instruction for its Bachelor of Legal Studies. Check the schedule before you enroll if you work during the day.
Pre-Law Tracks Inside Another Major
Some schools put pre-law inside another major. Ohio University’s online sociology degree has a pre-law track, for example, and Liberty offers an online B.S. in Law and Policy with a Pre-Law option. A track like Ohio’s is counted under sociology in federal data, so it won’t show up in a search for legal studies programs. ABA rules require a bachelor’s degree, not a particular major, so a sociology degree with a pre-law track meets the same requirement as a legal studies degree.
What an Online Pre-Law Degree Does and Doesn’t Lead To
An online pre-law degree is a bachelor’s degree. It covers the first step toward becoming a lawyer, and nothing more. A common route from here is to take a law school admission test, usually the LSAT, complete a three-year J.D. program, and meet the bar admission requirements of the jurisdiction where you plan to practice. Counting four years of college and three of full-time law school, that’s about seven years from high school to a law license.
Those requirements vary and may include a bar exam, a professional responsibility exam, and character and fitness screening. Most jurisdictions require a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), a separate exam from the bar exam, though Wisconsin and Puerto Rico don’t, and passing scores vary. Character and fitness screening is the review of your background and conduct that’s part of bar admission. The jurisdiction’s admitting authority decides your eligibility, though the investigation may be handled by the jurisdiction or by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE).
Each jurisdiction decides who’s eligible for bar admission. Some require a J.D. from an ABA-approved law school, and some offer alternative admission pathways. Confirm the rules where you plan to practice through the NCBE jurisdiction directory.
Without a J.D., a legal studies degree can lead to work as a paralegal or legal assistant, or to roles in compliance, court administration, and public policy. Arizona has one more option. Its B.A. in Law offers coursework that may help you meet the educational requirements for Arizona Legal Paraprofessional licensure, as the University of Arizona’s law school explains. Applicants must also meet Arizona’s eligibility requirements, pass the Legal Paraprofessional Core Examination and the applicable practice-area exam, clear fingerprinting, and be licensed by Arizona’s judicial branch, not the university. Licensure is limited to authorized practice areas in Arizona.
Does an Online Degree Hurt a Law School Application?
The ABA’s accreditation rules don’t treat online degrees differently. Under ABA Standard 502 (page 38 of the 2026-2027 Standards), the usual educational requirement for admission to an ABA-approved J.D. program is a bachelor’s degree from an institution accredited by an accreditor the U.S. Department of Education recognizes. The standard also permits specified exceptions, including qualifying 3+3 pathways and certain international or extraordinary applicants. Every school on this list meets the accreditation test, and the standard looks at the school’s accreditation, not at how you took your classes.
That rule may change. In August 2026, the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar sent proposed revisions to Standard 502 out for public comment, which would ease admission for some applicants without a bachelor’s degree. As of November 2026, it hasn’t taken effect.
If you apply through the Law School Admission Council’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS), you’ll arrange for official transcripts to be sent to LSAC from every college you attended, including community colleges and schools where you took college-level classes without earning a degree. LSAC processes those records into the report law schools receive. Each law school sets its own admission policies, so check with the schools you’re considering. You can also compare this list with our guide to the best colleges for pre-law students, which covers campus programs.
How to Use This List
Start with the two figures that drive the ranking. A higher award rate means more of the school’s entering students, across all four groups, earned a degree or certificate there. A lower average net price indicates a lower estimated cost of attendance after grant and scholarship aid for the reported first-time, full-time student group, and it isn’t the price every online student will pay. Then compare the per-credit tuition in the profiles, since that’s what you’ll pay as an online student, and check whether the rate depends on where you live.
If you have credit from another college, ask how much will transfer before you apply. Arizona, for example, requires at least 18 units of its law coursework to be taken there. Check the format too: some programs are fully asynchronous, while others require live online classes or an internship you’d complete where you live.
Finally, plan your admission test around your last year of coursework. Most law schools ask for the LSAT, some accept another test, and schools usually want your score before they review your application. LSAT dates are posted on LSAC’s site. If you’re weighing a graduate degree in legal studies instead of a J.D., that page compares the options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a pre-law degree to go to law school?
No. ABA rules generally require a bachelor’s degree, not a particular major. Law schools weigh your grades and your admission test score, so a major you’ll do well in is a sound choice, whether that’s pre-law, legal studies, or something else.
Do law schools accept online bachelor’s degrees?
Usually, if the school is accredited. ABA Standard 502 generally looks at whether your college is accredited by an agency the Department of Education recognizes, not at whether you studied online. Each law school sets its own admission policies, so confirm with the schools you’re considering.
What’s the difference between pre-law and legal studies?
Pre-law programs are usually built to prepare you for law school. Legal studies degrees cover the law as a subject and often include practical skills, and some are paired with paralegal training. Law schools accept either, and neither one is required.
Can you become a lawyer with an online legal studies degree?
Not with the degree alone. You may need to take the LSAT or another admissions test accepted by your chosen law school, and you’d typically complete a J.D. and meet your jurisdiction’s bar admission requirements. Requirements vary, and some jurisdictions offer alternative pathways, so check the rules where you plan to practice.
How long does an online pre-law degree take?
About four years full time if you start with no college credit. The top 10 programs whose totals we confirmed require 120 to 126 semester credits, or 181 quarter units at Humphreys. Transfer credit and accelerated 8-week courses can shorten that, and part-time study lengthens it.
- Top of the list: UCF, UW-Whitewater, and Texas Tech lead the ranking, which weighs the 8-year award rate at 60% and average net price at 40%.
- Two different prices: net price is a school-wide estimate of 2023-24 cost of attendance after grant aid for first-time, full-time students, while per-credit tuition is what an online student is billed as of November 2026.
- Format matters: some programs require live online classes or a local internship, so check the format before you enroll.
- Law school still comes next: an online pre-law degree is a bachelor’s degree, and a common route to practicing law adds an admission test such as the LSAT, a J.D., and your jurisdiction’s bar admission requirements.
If you’re comparing online pre-law programs, weigh how many students finish and what each credit will cost you, then ask how much of the credit you already have will transfer. The school listings on this page are a place to start that comparison.
