What's the fastest & cheapest online law school degree (JD) in the US?

[ss20ts]

> The online school would let me take the Bar, so it's not relevant to note that you need to be a licensed attorney

I don't believe that's correct

there isn't one Bar that applies to all states                
just because you pass the California bar doesn't mean you can offer legal advice to people in New York                  
passing the California bar does not mean you are licensed to practice law in New York                    
laws are actually different in different states

100% Facts.

To practice law in NY, you need to practice the NY Bar Exam AND meet additional requirements the state has developed. NY doesn't have reciprocity with other states so you can't just practice here because you're licensed in another state. 

You MUST be a licensed attorney to practice law in NY. Just taking the Bar Exam does not make you an attorney. Not in NY at least.

[ProspectiveJD]

> The online school would let me take the Bar, so it's not relevant to note that you need to be a licensed attorney

I don't believe that's correct

there isn't one Bar that applies to all states                
just because you pass the California bar doesn't mean you can offer legal advice to people in New York                  
passing the California bar does not mean you are licensed to practice law in New York                    
laws are actually different in different states

100% Facts.

To practice law in NY, you need to practice the NY Bar Exam AND meet additional requirements the state has developed. NY doesn't have reciprocity with other states so you can't just practice here because you're licensed in another state. 

You MUST be a licensed attorney to practice law in NY. Just taking the Bar Exam does not make you an attorney. Not in NY at least.

Cool. But all this is off-topic, unfortunately. The original question is about being able to take the Bar in any state (not to be able to practice or take the bar in EVERY state), and what schools / degree hacking paths can achieve that in the fastest and cheapest way.

[TINASAM]

Getting snippy at people trying to give you information after you asked for help isn't the best route to go, but have fun on that trip.

[Jonathan Whatley]

The original poster never owns a thread on DegreeForum. People will respond both to the OP and to other people who might reasonably be reading now or in the future. Many people interested in the fastest or cheapest US online law school that qualifies for a state bar will have more specific needs as to which state bar.

[HogwartsSchool]

Hey everyone.

I'm working full-time, outside of the US, and want to become a lawyer eventually. The opportunity cost of not working for three years and increasing my cost-of-living by going to the US is just not worth it in my shoes, so I'm looking at online law schools.

I see there are many options, and they're usually either ABA accredited, CalBar accredited, or completely unaccredited (e.g. Novus Law School). I'm interested in EITHER ABA or CalBar schools (completely fine if I can only take the Bar in California).

I learned that CalBar accreditation requires a minimum of 32 months of study, and ABA has even stricter requirements for online degrees (uncertain?), so I suppose that's why I couldn't find any 2-year online JDs, although there are many 2-year in-person JDs.

That said, I want to know what's the fastest & cheapest online law school? I have a 175 LSAT and 4.0 uGPA (BSc from public state university).

Some schools I'm aware of:
- Purdue Global: 2 years, 8 months! 100% online! But over $50,000 and no significant scholarships (I asked). Can start in January!
- Albany Law School: 3 years, 3 months. Online. Only September 2025 start. 1 yearly in-person residency required.
- National University JFK Law: 3 years and $62,000+.
- Vermont Law: 3+ years, residencies required
- Colleges of Law: 3.5 years, residencies
- St Mary's online: 3 years, 8 months
- CSU, 3 years 5 months. 6 residencies needed (!)
- University of New Hampshire: 3 years, 5 months. 14 residencies needed.
- 4 years: South Texas, Abraham Lincoln, Northeastern, St Francis, Touro Online, Dayton, Lincoln Memorial... many others

So far Purdue Global seems like the best bet, but it's still over $50,000. Anything cheaper? Any other hack/method I could sit for a US bar in a quicker/easier way (for example, I know that if you're an attorney anywhere in the world, you can sit for the CalBar - anywhere I can do that for less than 50K/32 months?).

Any thoughts and information is greatly appreciated.

---

Quick edit: I came across Northwestern California University School of Law. It's only about $15K total, so cost-wise that's fantastic. But it's 4 full years and impossible to accelerate, making it 16 months slower than Purdue. Anything like NWCUSL that's closer to 32 months? At this point I'll happily give $1000 to whoever knows but idk if that'll get this post removed

What is most important

1. JD vs LLB + LLM
2. Cost
3. Bar Exam jurisdiction 
4. Speed from A (starting law school) to Z (getting licensed, bar member)?
5. Practicing only in US (Federal Law) or other countries

The best method will depend on what's the most important to you and saying all the above doesn't work. Some people only consider a JD, that's top priority, while others consider speed, cost and ok with LLB. So, I recommend you breakdown your priorities of importance.

[ProspectiveJD]

Hey everyone.

I'm working full-time, outside of the US, and want to become a lawyer eventually. The opportunity cost of not working for three years and increasing my cost-of-living by going to the US is just not worth it in my shoes, so I'm looking at online law schools.

I see there are many options, and they're usually either ABA accredited, CalBar accredited, or completely unaccredited (e.g. Novus Law School). I'm interested in EITHER ABA or CalBar schools (completely fine if I can only take the Bar in California).

I learned that CalBar accreditation requires a minimum of 32 months of study, and ABA has even stricter requirements for online degrees (uncertain?), so I suppose that's why I couldn't find any 2-year online JDs, although there are many 2-year in-person JDs.

That said, I want to know what's the fastest & cheapest online law school? I have a 175 LSAT and 4.0 uGPA (BSc from public state university).

Some schools I'm aware of:
- Purdue Global: 2 years, 8 months! 100% online! But over $50,000 and no significant scholarships (I asked). Can start in January!
- Albany Law School: 3 years, 3 months. Online. Only September 2025 start. 1 yearly in-person residency required.
- National University JFK Law: 3 years and $62,000+.
- Vermont Law: 3+ years, residencies required
- Colleges of Law: 3.5 years, residencies
- St Mary's online: 3 years, 8 months
- CSU, 3 years 5 months. 6 residencies needed (!)
- University of New Hampshire: 3 years, 5 months. 14 residencies needed.
- 4 years: South Texas, Abraham Lincoln, Northeastern, St Francis, Touro Online, Dayton, Lincoln Memorial... many others

So far Purdue Global seems like the best bet, but it's still over $50,000. Anything cheaper? Any other hack/method I could sit for a US bar in a quicker/easier way (for example, I know that if you're an attorney anywhere in the world, you can sit for the CalBar - anywhere I can do that for less than 50K/32 months?).

Any thoughts and information is greatly appreciated.

---

Quick edit: I came across Northwestern California University School of Law. It's only about $15K total, so cost-wise that's fantastic. But it's 4 full years and impossible to accelerate, making it 16 months slower than Purdue. Anything like NWCUSL that's closer to 32 months? At this point I'll happily give $1000 to whoever knows but idk if that'll get this post removed

What is most important

1. JD vs LLB + LLM
2. Cost
3. Bar Exam jurisdiction 
4. Speed from A (starting law school) to Z (getting licensed, bar member)?
5. Practicing only in US (Federal Law) or other countries

The best method will depend on what's the most important to you and saying all the above doesn't work. Some people only consider a JD, that's top priority, while others consider speed, cost and ok with LLB. So, I recommend you breakdown your priorities of importance.

Thank you for posting. It's most important for me to practice anywhere in the US. This means passing the Bar in any one state (which one isn't important). From what I understand, a JD would be much faster than an LLB + LLM, since a JD is as short as 2 years, while a LLB is usually 4 years plus 1 year for the LLM. A JD would therefore also be cheaper due to less opportunity cost.

Based on the replies, it appears there's really no way to accelerate this.

[HogwartsSchool]

Hey everyone.

I'm working full-time, outside of the US, and want to become a lawyer eventually. The opportunity cost of not working for three years and increasing my cost-of-living by going to the US is just not worth it in my shoes, so I'm looking at online law schools.

I see there are many options, and they're usually either ABA accredited, CalBar accredited, or completely unaccredited (e.g. Novus Law School). I'm interested in EITHER ABA or CalBar schools (completely fine if I can only take the Bar in California).

I learned that CalBar accreditation requires a minimum of 32 months of study, and ABA has even stricter requirements for online degrees (uncertain?), so I suppose that's why I couldn't find any 2-year online JDs, although there are many 2-year in-person JDs.

That said, I want to know what's the fastest & cheapest online law school? I have a 175 LSAT and 4.0 uGPA (BSc from public state university).

Some schools I'm aware of:
- Purdue Global: 2 years, 8 months! 100% online! But over $50,000 and no significant scholarships (I asked). Can start in January!
- Albany Law School: 3 years, 3 months. Online. Only September 2025 start. 1 yearly in-person residency required.
- National University JFK Law: 3 years and $62,000+.
- Vermont Law: 3+ years, residencies required
- Colleges of Law: 3.5 years, residencies
- St Mary's online: 3 years, 8 months
- CSU, 3 years 5 months. 6 residencies needed (!)
- University of New Hampshire: 3 years, 5 months. 14 residencies needed.
- 4 years: South Texas, Abraham Lincoln, Northeastern, St Francis, Touro Online, Dayton, Lincoln Memorial... many others

So far Purdue Global seems like the best bet, but it's still over $50,000. Anything cheaper? Any other hack/method I could sit for a US bar in a quicker/easier way (for example, I know that if you're an attorney anywhere in the world, you can sit for the CalBar - anywhere I can do that for less than 50K/32 months?).

Any thoughts and information is greatly appreciated.

---

Quick edit: I came across Northwestern California University School of Law. It's only about $15K total, so cost-wise that's fantastic. But it's 4 full years and impossible to accelerate, making it 16 months slower than Purdue. Anything like NWCUSL that's closer to 32 months? At this point I'll happily give $1000 to whoever knows but idk if that'll get this post removed

What is most important

1. JD vs LLB + LLM
2. Cost
3. Bar Exam jurisdiction 
4. Speed from A (starting law school) to Z (getting licensed, bar member)?
5. Practicing only in US (Federal Law) or other countries

The best method will depend on what's the most important to you and saying all the above doesn't work. Some people only consider a JD, that's top priority, while others consider speed, cost and ok with LLB. So, I recommend you breakdown your priorities of importance.

Thank you for posting. It's most important for me to practice anywhere in the US. This means passing the Bar in any one state (which one isn't important). From what I understand, a JD would be much faster than an LLB + LLM, since a JD is as short as 2 years, while a LLB is usually 4 years plus 1 year for the LLM. A JD would therefore also be cheaper due to less opportunity cost.

Based on the replies, it appears there's really no way to accelerate this.

I have follow up questions, based on your response "practice anywhere in the US". 

1. Are you familiar with how the US legal system works? 
2. What type of law do you intend on practicing in the US and do you intend on living in the US while practicing US law? 
3. Are you planning on going to court for clients in District, Federal claims, etc? 
4. Are you familiar with the bar exams and the required prep courses and not all states have reciprocity agreements with each other?
5. Are you planning to get a job for the US Government? 

btw: while these questions may seem confusing, however, there are extremely relevant to your inquiry.

[Stonybeach]

"The State of Arizona now allows non-lawyers to provide legal services in a limited capacity through its new Legal Paraprofessional (LP) license." https://law.asu.edu/degree-programs/mls/...ofessional

The LP has been compared to a "nurse practitioner (NP) or physician assistant (PA) midlevel" with a limited license to practice very focused areas of the Law in Arizona with this Master of Legal Studies. I know there are a lot of lawyers in this country, but there must be a lot of legal work that needs to be accomplished to come up with this pathway!

[HogwartsSchool]

"The State of Arizona now allows non-lawyers to provide legal services in a limited capacity through its new Legal Paraprofessional (LP) license." https://law.asu.edu/degree-programs/mls/...ofessional

The LP has been compared to a "nurse practitioner (NP) or physician assistant (PA) midlevel" with a limited license to practice very focused areas of the Law in Arizona with this Master of Legal Studies. I know there are a lot of lawyers in this country, but there must be a lot of legal work that needs to be accomplished to come up with this pathway!

unfortunately, only available in Arizona. A lot of education to only use in one state.

[ss20ts]

"The State of Arizona now allows non-lawyers to provide legal services in a limited capacity through its new Legal Paraprofessional (LP) license." https://law.asu.edu/degree-programs/mls/...ofessional

The LP has been compared to a "nurse practitioner (NP) or physician assistant (PA) midlevel" with a limited license to practice very focused areas of the Law in Arizona with this Master of Legal Studies. I know there are a lot of lawyers in this country, but there must be a lot of legal work that needs to be accomplished to come up with this pathway!

This program doesn't mean that there's a lot of legal work. If you do some research, you'll find that many new lawyers are struggling to find work. There are too many lawyers at this point in time. This program from Arizona sounds very similar to a paralegal except with more degrees which cost $$$$.