Pre-Law major
Pre-Law: courses, careers, and where to study
Pre-Law isn't a major itself but a track, students major in any field while taking the courses, building the GPA, and earning the LSAT score for law school admission.
Pre-Law is an advisory track, not a degree. Law schools admit applicants from every undergraduate major and explicitly value diversity of academic background. The strongest pre-law preparation focuses on three things: a high GPA in a rigorous major (top-10 majors for LSAT performance include History, Economics, Political Science, Math, Philosophy, English, and Mathematical Sciences), strong analytical writing, and a competitive LSAT score (national median 152; top-14 schools target 170+).
Undergraduate pre-law tracks usually layer on courses in constitutional law, legal writing, ethics, and logic. CampusPin's pre-law tag identifies schools that publish pre-law advising structure. Graduates apply to law school during senior year (or take a "K-JD" gap year or two before applying).
Academic classification (CIP)
In the federal Classification of Instructional Programs, Pre-Law maps to CIP 22.0001, Pre-Law Studies, within the LEGAL PROFESSIONS AND STUDIES family. The official definition:
A program that prepares individuals for the professional study of law at the post-baccalaureate level.
Source: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 2020. View on nces.ed.gov
What credential Pre-Law is awarded as
Of the 717 Pre-Law credentials U.S. colleges reported conferring in 2023-24:
- Certificate20%141
- Associate9%66
- Bachelor's64%459
- Graduate7%51
CampusPin does not have enough states reporting this field to say whether the mix changes from state to state. See the full study.
Credentials conferred in 2023-24, U.S. Department of Education IPEDS completions. A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one, and this counts what was awarded rather than what a college currently offers.
What you'll study
- A rigorous undergraduate major (most often Political Science, History, Economics, English, or Philosophy)
- Constitutional law fundamentals
- Legal writing and reasoning
- Logic
- Ethics
- LSAT preparation
- A strong GPA
- Pre-law advising and law-school application strategy
Typical careers
- Lawyer (with JD)
- Paralegal (no JD required)
- Compliance Officer
- Policy Analyst
- Lobbyist
- Federal Investigator (FBI/DEA)
Typical salary range: After JD: $58,000–$215,000 early-career (huge spread by firm tier)Ranges are early-career estimates. Any BLS figure shown is the occupation-wide median across all experience levels, not a starting wage, and is informational only.
Related occupations
Occupations the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk associates with Pre-Law, with what each one pays and how many openings it is projected to average each year. Ordered by projected annual openings, largest first. Linked titles open the full CampusPin career page.
| Occupation | Median pay | Openings / yr | Projected change | Most entrants hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NO MATCH | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
Crosswalk: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), CIP 2020 to SOC 2018. Pay, openings and projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024 wages, Employment Projections).
“Most entrants hold” is what BLS observes about people already working in the occupation. It is not a legal requirement, not an admission rule, and not a guarantee of entry. Studying Pre-Law does not guarantee any specific occupation, and many of these roles are entered from several different fields. Projected openings are a projection, not jobs promised.
The federal crosswalk associates only one occupation with Pre-Law. That is a statement about the field, not about its graduates: a breadth degree is not tied to a particular job, so the crosswalk has little to map. Graduates of this field work across many occupations, and what follows the degree depends far more on the skills and experience built alongside it.
Before you commit to a Pre-Law major
CampusPin does not rank programs. Use these prompts to pressure-test whether a specific Pre-Law program fits your goals, they are decision questions, not claims about any school.
Ask the Pre-Law department
- Which concentrations or specializations are offered, and which faculty lead them?
- What does the typical course sequence look like, and how much is required vs. elective?
- What labs, studios, clinical placements, or research opportunities are available to undergraduates?
- Is there a capstone, thesis, internship, or co-op requirement?
Ask current students & check the curriculum
- How heavy is the workload, and how accessible is the faculty?
- What internships or co-ops did you do, and where do recent graduates end up?
- Does the required curriculum actually match the careers listed above?
- How easy is it to add a minor, double major, or switch tracks later?
Find a Pre-Law program
CampusPin lists U.S. universities and community colleges by state, tuition, school size, acceptance rate, and campus setting, no account required.
Colleges that awarded the most Pre-Law credentials
Largest by credentials conferred in 2023-24. This measures the size of the graduating class, not quality, and it is not a ranking.
- Liberty UniversityVA · 165
- Michigan State UniversityMI · 116
- Trinity Law SchoolCA · 42
- Texas A & M University-College StationTX · 33
- Central New Mexico Community CollegeNM · 30
- Siena CollegeNY · 30
- Indiana Institute of TechnologyIN · 22
- Utah State UniversityUT · 21
- University of Cincinnati-Main CampusOH · 20
- Nova Southeastern UniversityFL · 19
- National UniversityCA · 17
- Husson UniversityME · 14
Based on credentials this institution reported conferring in the federal IPEDS completions collection for 2023-24. It confirms the field was awarded that year, not that the program currently accepts students, and it covers only the fields CampusPin tracks. Confirm current offerings with the institution.
Where Pre-Law credentials were awarded
2 states have a distinct enough set of Pre-Law colleges to be worth its own page.
Related majors
Political Science
Political Science studies governments, political behavior, and policy, preparing graduates for law school, public service, journalism, and policy research.
History
History trains graduates in research, evidence, and argument, feeding into law, education, museums, government, and any field that values long-form analytical writing.
Philosophy
Philosophy develops rigorous reasoning, argument, and ethical analysis through the study of logic, knowledge, mind, and morality, building transferable skills used across law, policy, and writing.
Economics
Economics studies how individuals, firms, and governments allocate resources, combining theory with empirical analysis and a strong mathematical foundation.
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice studies the institutions and practices of policing, courts, and corrections, preparing graduates for law enforcement, probation, corrections, and law school.
Put this major in context
The salary above is an occupation-wide median from federal data, not a starting wage or a guarantee. These CampusPin guides and reports help you read it well, see where a Pre-Law degree can lead, and weigh it against cost and program quality.
How one major leads to many careers
Why a single Pre-Law degree can open more than one path, and how to read the occupations above.
Why a median wage is not a starting salary
How to read a BLS median, and why early-career pay usually sits below it.
When accreditation and licensure matter
How program accreditation and state licensure can shape a Pre-Law path before you enroll.
Does a pricier college pay off?
How college cost lines up with graduation and earnings, an association, not a ranking.
Does picking a major narrow your college list?
Across the federal completions data, most fields barely change which colleges are on the table. Which ones genuinely do.
Certificate or degree?
What credential a field is usually awarded as is mostly set by the field itself, not by the state, with a short list of exceptions.
How this guide is sourced
This is an editorial guide from the CampusPin Editorial Team. Career and wage figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages, and link to each career page. Program availability comes from CampusPin's free institution search; CampusPin does not assert that any specific school offers this exact major until that program data is verified. Last reviewed 2026-06-15. How CampusPin sources data · Report a correction.