Best Online Law Programs in the USA

Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

JD / professional law degree: Juris Doctor (JD) Online (part-time)

ASU Law's part-time online J.D. is the only J.D. here whose page states no required campus attendance at all; optional short in-person courses exist, and most classes are asynchronous with announced blocks of synchronous learning. The electives are aimed at public service and rural practice, and remote students can join clinics that teach remotely and do externships locally. The ABA lists ASU as a school with a fully online distance division, and the school says graduates appear to meet the criteria in most, not all, jurisdictions.

Fully online · designed to be completed within three and a half to four years · English

UC Berkeley School of Law

Berkeley, California, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: LL.M. Executive Track

Berkeley's LL.M. Executive Track is for practising lawyers and awards the same LL.M. as the traditional track, in either a remote-plus-summer format (part-time online in spring and fall, then one full-time summer in Berkeley) or two consecutive full-time summers. Summer courses run in compressed blocks of two to four courses with exams straight after, and online courses are put at about 15 hours a week or less. Both formats require full-time summer residence; the page states nothing on bar eligibility.

Online with required campus attendance · one calendar year (January to December) or two consecutive summers · English

Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

Malibu, California, United States

Legal studies master’s: Master of Legal Studies (MLS) - Online

Pepperdine's online MLS is mostly asynchronous but requires two weekend residencies on the Malibu campus for networking and hands-on simulations, a hard in-person condition that the school's FAQ states directly. Optional concentrations are dispute resolution, human resources and litigation, and the school notes extra costs for residencies and travel. The school says the program has WSCUC accreditation and ABA acquiescence; the ABA list we read covers J.D. programs only, so that claim is attributed to the school and the degree does not qualify anyone to practise.

Online with required campus attendance · English

Northeastern University School of Law

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

JD / professional law degree: FlexJD

FlexJD is Northeastern's four-year, 11-semester hybrid J.D., with live online classes two nights a week, asynchronous work, and three required plus three optional four-day on-campus intensives. Its distinguishing feature is the cooperative legal education requirement: a semester-long co-op field placement with a reflections seminar and a second practical term, each of at least 275 hours. The school states plainly that FlexJD students cannot currently sit for the bar exam in New York or Alabama.

Online with required campus attendance · part time in 4 years · English

University of Detroit Mercy School of Law

Online · provider based in United States

JD / professional law degree: Online JD Program

Detroit Mercy's online J.D. mixes asynchronous and synchronous classes over four years and requires one clinic and one Law Firm Program course within its 90 credits, with no campus visit at any point. It is new: the ABA lists the school with a fully online division, but the first class only started in Fall 2026, so there are no graduates or bar results to examine. The page names no state bar limits, so applicants should check their own state.

Fully online · Graduation requires 90 credit hours of required and elective courses · English

Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

JD / professional law degree: Juris Doctor (Blended Learning enrollment option)

Mitchell Hamline's blended J.D. is a four-year program (finishable in three) built on asynchronous coursework with no required live online classes, anchored by a Prep Week at the start and a five-day on-campus Capstone Week at the end of each of the first four semesters. Students have access to clinics, externships, certificates and journals and are taught by the same tenured faculty as on campus. The ABA names Mitchell Hamline under its Standard 105(a)(12)(iii) acquiescence list; the page we read states no state bar limits.

Online with required campus attendance · It is a four-year program that can be finished in three years. · English

WashU's online tax LL.M. is for lawyers and law graduates, with one required course in federal income taxation and electives that include Federal Taxation of Partnerships, International Taxation, State and Local Taxation, Tax Procedure and an externship. It needs 24 credits, with a minimum course grade of B-minus, and can be completed entirely online in as little as 18 months. It is a postgraduate specialisation, not a first law degree.

Fully online · as little as 18 months · English

University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law

Concord, New Hampshire, United States

JD / professional law degree: Hybrid JD

UNH Franklin Pierce's part-time Hybrid J.D. is mostly online with a specialised focus: students choose Intellectual Property, Technology, and Information Law or Health and Life Sciences Law. Required residencies are one or two short on-campus visits per semester. The school reports that the New Hampshire Supreme Court has found graduates eligible for its bar and names New York as a state where they would not be eligible to sit, because of its distance-education credit cap.

Online with required campus attendance · in as little as three years · English

Rutgers Law School

Newark, New Jersey, United States

JD / professional law degree: Online J.D.

Rutgers' Online J.D. is a four-year, 84-credit part-time degree with live Eastern-time evening classes two to three nights a week, asynchronous work, and eight required four- to five-day in-person experiences, most of them held at the Camden campus. A fourth-year capstone starts bar preparation and graduates get a non-credit third-party bar review course. The FAQ states eligibility to sit the bar exam in any state except New York and Alabama, with the reason given for each.

Online with required campus attendance · English

Syracuse University College of Law

Syracuse, New York, United States

JD / professional law degree: JDinteractive (JDi) Hybrid Online J.D.

JDinteractive is a part-time, year-round hybrid J.D. taught by Syracuse's campus faculty, mixing self-paced and live online sessions with six required credit-bearing residency courses (the first four a week long in Syracuse) and a locally arranged externship. Students can join clinics, Law Review and a fully online joint J.D./MBA. The school states that New York does not automatically allow graduates to sit its exam, though by April 2026 every graduate who petitioned for a waiver had succeeded.

Online with required campus attendance · Most students complete the degree in four years. · English

Columbia Law School

Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Executive LL.M.

Columbia's Executive LL.M. in Global Business Law is a 24-credit, seven-month hybrid: online semesters with weekly Zoom classes, a 12-week on-campus summer residency, then a short online fall course. Its Global Business Law Colloquium, offered only to this cohort, covers lawyer leadership and financial statement analysis. Classes are small (about 25-40 students) and the school states the degree does not qualify graduates for the New York bar exam, though other states may allow it.

Online with required campus attendance · online spring and fall semesters with an on-campus summer residency; degrees awarded in October · English

New York University School of Law

Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

LLM / Master of Laws: Executive LLM in Taxation

NYU's Executive LLM in Tax lets lawyers complete the 24-credit tax LL.M. entirely online, watching recorded class video whenever convenient, with final exams taken at home under a video proctoring device and up to five years to finish. Applicants must hold a first degree in law and meet the same admission standard as on-campus tax students. It is a postgraduate specialisation for existing lawyers and carries no claim to qualify anyone to practise.

Fully online · English

Cornell Law School

Ithaca, New York, United States

Legal studies master’s: M.S.L.S. (Master of Science in Legal Studies, online)

Cornell's M.S.L.S. is a 20-month, part-time online master's for non-lawyers, built on five core courses (including contracts, corporate governance and compliance systems) and more than 15 electives such as AI law and policy, privacy law and health law. Courses are asynchronous with due dates, take about 15-20 hours a week, and end in a required capstone project; campus conferences are optional. It does not lead to legal practice.

Fully online · 20 months · English

University of Dayton School of Law

Dayton, Ohio, United States

JD / professional law degree: Online Hybrid Juris Doctor

Dayton's Online Hybrid J.D. runs on weekly live online classes with a stated 15-30 hours per week of work, plus four weekend Get REAL intensives on campus covering orientation, experiential learning and bar preparation. Online students may join Mock Trial, Moot Court and Law Review. The school says the ABA recognised the modality through a variance in May 2018, and the ABA list names Dayton among schools with acquiescence; the school gives no state-by-state limits and tells applicants to check their jurisdiction.

Online with required campus attendance · takes less than four years to complete (44 months) · English

University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Legal studies master’s: Master of Studies in Law: Online

Pitt's online Master of Studies in Law is a 30-credit degree whose second 15 credits come from one of four online certificates: Corporate Compliance, Health Care Compliance, Human Resources Law, or Sports, Entertainment, and Arts Law. Delivery is asynchronous with discussion forums and optional weekly live sessions, one course at a time in a set order, over about two years part-time. It is for professionals who want a defined specialism and does not qualify anyone to practise law.

Fully online · English

Vanderbilt's online MLS is built for people outside the legal profession who need to understand American law and legal systems. Classes are taken one at a time, mostly asynchronous with biweekly class sessions, and an optional short course on the Nashville campus is available. It is not a route to practising law and requires no GRE or minimum GPA.

Fully online · The program can be completed in under two years. · English

Vermont's part-time Online Hybrid J.D. combines online classes with three brief in-person residential sessions and offers the same curriculum as its residential J.D. Its draw is subject depth: students can take courses in the areas the school is known for, including environmental, food and agriculture, energy and animal law. The ABA lists Vermont Law School among schools with acquiescence for a hybrid division; the page we read gives no state-by-state bar limits.

Online with required campus attendance · English