Law Master's Degree in Arizona

Overview

This page narrows the general research framework down to Arizona specifically: what this level actually prepares you to do in this field, Arizona-specific financial aid and institutions, and the concrete numbers (credits, time, and typical cost) — layered on top of the national framework covered on our national Law master's degree page. A master's degree is an advanced credential built on top of a bachelor's degree, either deepening expertise in the same field (an MS in Computer Science after a CS bachelor's) or adding a professional credential in a new direction (an MBA after an undergraduate degree in an unrelated field). Some fields require a master's degree for licensure or independent practice — nurse practitioners, licensed clinical social workers, and many school counselors, for example — while in other fields it is optional and primarily useful for advancement or specialization.

A master's degree in a related field is sometimes pursued as additional preparation or a career bridge before or during application to Law's professional doctoral program (or, in a career-change scenario, to strengthen an application after an unrelated undergraduate major), but it does not itself confer any licensure standing in this field.

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Is this the right level for you?

Graduates seeking a licensure-required credential their field mandates beyond the bachelor's; professionals seeking a specific specialization or management-track credential; and students pursuing academic or research careers on the way to a doctoral program. Compare this against the full ladder overview on our Law programs page if you're not yet sure which level in this specific field fits your goals — the right entry point varies more by field than general advice about degree levels usually acknowledges.

Curriculum at this level

A master's degree in law typically covers graduate-level, more advanced treatment of a subset of the topics below, building on undergraduate-level foundations most students already have, typically culminating in a thesis, applied capstone project, or comprehensive exam. This applies the same way in Arizona as nationally, since curriculum is set at the institution level rather than the state level. Core topics commonly found across law programs, adjusted in depth for this level, include:

• Constitutional Law
• Contracts
• Torts
• Civil Procedure
• Criminal Law
• Legal Research and Writing
• Property Law
• Clinical/Externship Practice

Accreditation to verify

For law specifically, the field's primary programmatic accreditor to check is American Bar Association (ABA). Confirm the accreditor you're checking actually covers the master's degree specifically, since programmatic accreditation standards can differ by degree level within the same field.

1. Search the accreditor's own program directory for the specific institution and program name.
2. Cross-check the institution's overall accreditation status in the U.S. Department of Education's Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (ope.ed.gov/dapip).
3. Ask the program directly for its current accreditation status in writing if you can't find it published, and be wary if a program is vague or evasive about naming its accreditor.
4. Recheck accreditation status close to enrollment, since status can change between when you first research a program and when you actually enroll.

See our full accreditation guide, and our Arizona overview page for state-specific institutional context.

Time, credits & cost

A master's degree typically requires 30-36 credits (some professional master's programs, including many MBA and nursing programs, require up to 50) and takes 1-3 years of full-time study, most commonly about 2 years. On cost: Highly variable by field and institution type; public in-state graduate tuition is generally lower than private, and many students fund graduate study in part through assistantships (common in research-focused fields) that include a tuition waiver and stipend.

Total cost for a Law master's degree program depends far more on the specific institution and your residency status than on the field itself, but the same financial aid mechanics apply across every field on this site: the FAFSA determines eligibility for federal grants, loans, and work-study; institutional and state aid layer on top; and net price (not published tuition) is the number that actually matters for comparison. See our full financial aid guide for current federal figures, and our degree-level pages for typical credit-hour and cost ranges at each level. Where Law master's degree has field-specific cost drivers — required lab fees, clinical supervision costs, licensing exam fees, or extended clinical/residency training — those are noted in the licensure section above.

Curious how this level stacks up? Here's how it compares to the other four in typical credits and duration:

Career outlook

At the master's level, expect access to more specialized, senior, or management-track versions of the roles below, generally with higher earning potential than bachelor's-level entry, though a master's degree is not required for every role listed and its value depends heavily on the specific role and employer.

Keep in mind these national BLS figures (May 2024 wages; 2024-34 projections) describe the field as a whole, not Arizona or this degree level specifically. For Arizona- and metro-level figures, use the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program — see our careers page for how to look that up.

Licensure & certification in Arizona

Licensure/certification pathway: A Juris Doctor (JD) from an ABA-accredited law school, passing the bar examination in the state of practice, and a character-and-fitness review.

A master's degree in a related field is sometimes pursued as additional preparation or a career bridge before or during application to Law's professional doctoral program (or, in a career-change scenario, to strengthen an application after an unrelated undergraduate major), but it does not itself confer any licensure standing in this field. Where this field requires state licensure, confirm directly with Arizona's licensing board for the profession that this level and a specific program's graduates are eligible to sit for the relevant exam — eligibility rules can vary slightly by state even within an accredited field.

Where to study law at the master's degree level in Arizona

Among Arizona's public higher-education options, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University are generally the most recognized starting points, though many students find a better fit at a smaller regional public university, a community college, or a private institution once they compare actual program offerings, cost, and format against their specific goals. Not every institution in Arizona offers every field at every level — confirm directly with a specific school whether it offers law specifically at the master's degree level before applying, since general university admission does not guarantee a specific program's availability.

Financial aid in Arizona

Arizona's primary state financial aid program is the Arizona Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP), run through the Arizona Board of Regents / Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education. This is separate from federal aid (FAFSA, Pell Grants, federal loans — see our financial aid guide) and typically requires its own application steps and deadlines, which the Arizona Board of Regents / Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education publishes and updates; always confirm current eligibility and award figures directly with that agency rather than assuming a prior year's numbers still apply.

Typical admission requirements

A completed bachelor's degree (often, though not always, in a related field), a minimum undergraduate GPA (commonly around a 3.0, though this varies significantly by program), letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, and sometimes standardized test scores (GRE or GMAT, program-dependent) or relevant professional work experience, particularly for professional master's programs.

Think of these as general, national norms rather than Arizona-specific ones — always double-check current requirements with the admissions office of any specific school you have in mind.

Format: online vs. on campus

Many Law master's degree programs are now available online, in a hybrid format, or fully in person, and format flexibility has become one of the more consequential ways individual programs differ from one another. Fully online programs tend to suit working adults and students managing family or geographic constraints; in-person programs offer more direct access to labs, studios, or clinical facilities where the field requires them; hybrid formats attempt to combine both. Fields like this one that involve required clinical rotations, practicums, residencies, or supervised fieldwork cannot be completed fully online regardless of format marketing, since that hands-on component is generally non-negotiable for accreditation and licensure at this level — and any required in-person component would need to be completed at a site in or near Arizona if you're enrolled in an out-of-state online program. Whichever format you're considering, confirm institutional accreditation applies equally to the online version of the program (it generally does, since accreditation applies to the institution and program rather than the delivery method) and, if you live in a different state than the institution, confirm the program is authorized to enroll students from your state — see our locations guide for how state authorization (NC-SARA) works.

How to evaluate a specific program

1. Confirm institutional and programmatic accreditation directly, using the steps above — and confirm it applies to the master's degree specifically.
2. Compare the actual course list against the curriculum guidance above.
3. If this field requires state licensure, confirm program eligibility directly with Arizona's licensing board.
4. Get a personalized net price using the school's net price calculator, and check eligibility for the Arizona Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) through the Arizona Board of Regents / Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education.
5. Use our comparison framework to weigh finalists side by side across accreditation, cost, curriculum, outcomes, and support.

See the national Law master's degree page for the complete field-and-level-wide picture, or our Arizona overview page for more state-specific institutional and aid context.

Frequently asked questions