The number one law school in the country is Yale University in Connecticut. With 613 students enrolled full-time and a 93.5 percent employment rate upon graduation for its law students, Yale is highly competitive, but it carries an excellent chance of securing a job. Yale is the most costly of the top-three schools, with full-time tuition coming in at over $48,000. They offer the standard Juris Doctorate (JD) degree that qualifies students to take the bar exam and practice law in the US, as well as an LLM, which is a graduate degree in law obtained after one year of study. A JSD, or Scientiae Juridicae Doctor, is a research doctoral degree equivalent to a PhD. Yale also offers a MSL, a Masters of Science in Law. In addition, Yale law school will allow you to obtain a joint degree by taking courses at both Yale law school and the Yale Graduate School or Yale School of Management. If you wish to pursue a joint degree, you can get your JD/MBA or a JD and a masters or doctorate degree in another related field.
Harvard Law School came in second in the 2010 US News and World Report. With 1,771 students, they enroll almost three times the number of students accepted at Yale. Their employment ratio is also higher at 97.1 percent, and the tuition is cheaper, just topping $43,000 per year. With the increased possibility of employment as well as higher admission numbers, Harvard is an excellent choice for any prospective law student. Harvard, like Yale, offers a JD degree, an LLM degree, a JSD degree and the possibility to complete joint degrees at the Harvard Business School (MBA), Harvard Kennedy School (Master in Public Policy or a Master in Public Administration in International Development), Harvard School of Public Health (Masters of Public Health), and Harvard Graduate School of Design (Masters in Urban Planning).
The third best law school in the country as of 2010 is Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Tuition falls between Harvard and Yale, coming in around $45,000 per year. Their employment ratio is higher than both of the top two schools, at over 98 percent. Stanford offers a JD and LLM, along with a Stanford Program in International Legal Studies (SPILS), a JDS degree, and and MLS (masters of legal studies) degree which is similar to Yale's MSL degree. Stanford also offers a JD/MBA joint degree program.