Best Legal Services Schools Near Amherst, MA (2026)

Amherst, Massachusetts has 5 accredited schools offering legal services programs. Amherst has a population of about 40,989. In the Amherst Town-Northampton, MA metro area, the top-earning legal services-related role is Lawyer at a median $122,670 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).


The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer legal services programs near Amherst, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Amherst city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.

How We Rank Schools

Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:

  • Graduation rate 30%
  • Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
  • Average net price (lower is better) 20%
  • Retention rate 15%
  • Fully online availability 10%

Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Amherst. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.

Ranked by BOC Score โ€” U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.

Sort:
#1

University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Amherst, MA 1.8 miles from Amherst
  • 4 year
  • Offers a fully online program
79.0 BOC Score
Graduation rate 81%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry $71,631
Avg net price $22,383/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Contact
Key stats
  • Retention rate: 91%
  • Programs offered: 166

Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard

Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Massachusetts schools on the Massachusetts legal services page.


Amherst is part of the Amherst Town-Northampton, MA metro area (BLS area code 11200). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Massachusetts statewide.

OccupationMedian WageSourceCOL-Adjusted (US=100)
Paralegal and Legal Assistant$64,050Amherst Town-Northampton, MA$63,922
Legal Secretary and Administrative Assistant$62,120MA statewide$61,996
Lawyer$122,670Amherst Town-Northampton, MA$122,425

Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.


Amherst at a Glance

MetricValueSource
Regional Price Parity (US=100)100.2 (above U.S. average)BEA RPP 2024


Frequently Asked Questions

Our directory has 5 accredited schools offering legal services programs near Amherst. The closest is University of Massachusetts-Amherst in Amherst, MA (1.8 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Franklin Pierce University (36.7 miles). 5 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.

Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying legal services-related roles near Amherst are: Lawyer ($122,670), Paralegal and Legal Assistant ($64,050), Legal Secretary and Administrative Assistant ($62,120). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Massachusetts statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.

Should I look at programs in Northampton instead of Amherst?

Northampton, MA is 9.0 miles from Amherst and has its own set of local legal services programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.

How do I verify a program is accredited?

Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.


Other Programs Available in Amherst

Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Amherst:

Data verified: August 31, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024โ€“2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.