Best Legal Studies Schools Near Santa Cruz, CA (2026)

Updated August 11, 2026 BLS data College Scorecard On this page

Santa Cruz, California has 12 accredited schools offering legal studies programs, with tuition ranging from $1,312 to $50,547 per year for indexed programs. Santa Cruz has a population of about 60,953. Median household income is $111,427 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 57.7% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA metro area, the top-earning legal studies-related role is Lawyer at a median $164,790 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

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

No school data available.

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

Santa Cruz is part of the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA metro area (BLS area code 42100). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to California statewide.

OccupationMedian WageSourceCOL-Adjusted (US=100)
Paralegal and Legal Assistant$64,690Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA$58,863
Lawyer$164,790Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA$149,945
Legal Secretary and Administrative Assistant$77,780Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA$70,773

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.

Santa Cruz at a Glance

MetricValueSource
Population60,953Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003)
Median household income$111,427Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013)
Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+57.7%Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003)
Regional Price Parity (US=100)109.9 (above U.S. average)BEA RPP 2024

Frequently Asked Questions

Our directory has 12 accredited schools offering legal studies programs near Santa Cruz. The closest is University of California-Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, CA (1.8 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Contra Costa College (70.4 miles). 8 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.

Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying legal studies-related roles near Santa Cruz are: Lawyer ($164,790), Legal Secretary and Administrative Assistant ($77,780), Paralegal and Legal Assistant ($64,690). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with California statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.

Should I look at programs in Watsonville instead of Santa Cruz?

Watsonville, CA is 15.1 miles from Santa Cruz and has its own set of local legal studies programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.

Santa Cruz’s median household income of $111,427 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Santa Cruz while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and California public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.

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 Santa Cruz

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

Data verified: August 11, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.

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