Law Degree

A law degree is one of the most ambitious degrees that any student can hope to achieve. It requires several years of college beyond a four-year university degree and an ambitious program of study at a specialized school. However, you can still get a degree that will allow you to enter the legal field without having to complete the entire program that a full legal education requires.

We all know what a lawyer is, of course. In the United States, becoming a lawyer typically requires a four-year college degree (although an advanced placement program might reduce this to three years) and three years at an accredited law school to earn a law degree. Even after completing this program, a prospective lawyer must pass the bar exam before being allowed to practice. All of this takes time and costs money. However, as anyone who has ever had to pay a lawyer’s fee will tell you, it will pay off in terms of your future income. A law degree from a prestigious school can earn you a place at a top law firm and help net you a salary that most people can only dream of.

The highest degree in law school is the J.D. or Doctor of Jurisprudence. However, if you don’t want to spend seven years and tens of thousands of dollars earning a full law degree, there are other alternatives. There are academic legal degrees that do not earn you the right to practice law but will still allow you to work in the legal field. For instance, there are legal studies degrees, and they can be earned at several levels, including the bachelor of legal studies (BS), master of legal studies (MS), and master of professional studies (MPS). While not law degrees per se, these will allow you to work as everything from a paralegal to a professor of law and can be earned in conjunction with other degrees, such as political science and medicine, for students in search of more specialized involvement in legal matters.

Make no mistake about it: A full law degree is not an easy thing to obtain. But, if you are smart, believe you have a talent for legal matters, and want a career that will grant you both prestige and a substantial income, a law degree is probably what you want. If you are willing to do the work and to make the financial investment that law school requires, you will be paid back many times over for your time and effort in obtaining a law degree.