Law (Juris Doctor)

Law programmes lead to the Juris Doctor, the professional degree behind admission to the Florida Bar. It is a graduate programme: you arrive holding a bachelor’s degree in whatever subject you chose, and the J.D. takes three years of full-time study after it.

The degrees this program covers

The J.D. is a professional doctorate and it is the degree the licence runs through — eligibility to sit the Florida Bar examination requires it from an ABA-approved law school. ⚠ No undergraduate major is required, preferred, or shortens the J.D., including Florida’s own pre-law and legal studies bachelor’s degrees; the Lawyer career path sets out what admitted applicants actually studied, and what the entrance-exam data says about it. ⚠ Admission runs on the LSAT and the school’s own process rather than on a state articulation pathway, so the transfer protections that govern the rest of this site do not apply. ⚠ The list below covers Florida PUBLIC institutions only, which is four of the state’s ABA-approved law schools; Florida also has several private ones that federal public-institution data does not show here.

Careers this program leads to

Each one sets out the courses along the way, the licence or certification at the end, and the sources behind it.

Lawyer

Lawyers advise and represent clients in courts, before agencies and in private dealings — researching the law, drafting documents, negotiating, and arguing cases. In Florida the route runs through a Juris Doctor from an ABA-accredited law school, the Florida Bar Examination and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. ⚠ There is no required or preferred undergraduate major: law-school applicants arrive from every field listed below.

Careers that name this program, but not as a route

Paralegal

⚠ Not a route from here — a JD requires a bachelor's degree and the law school admission process, and no paralegal credential shortens it. ⚠⚠ Named because paralegal work is one of the best available ways to find out whether you actually want the profession before committing three years and the cost, and because many law students came this way.

Programs similar to this one

Neighbouring fields that share much of the same coursework, and often the same employers. ⚠ Read these before you commit to a major — which doors a neighbouring degree keeps open is the part no catalog tells you, and it is far cheaper to change now than later.

Paralegal and Legal Support Studies 32 Florida schools

⚠ The other degree in this field, and by far the more available: 31 Florida public institutions award it, mostly as a two-year associate degree or a certificate. It does NOT shorten a J.D. and a paralegal may not practise law — but it is paid legal work in about two years, and the closest look at the profession you can get before committing to three more years and a bar examination.

Psychology 10 Florida schools

⚠ Named on the evidence rather than by association: LSAC recorded 3,850 psychology applicants to law school, 5.2% of the field. ⚠⚠ And this site's Lawyer page carries the finding that matters — the most law-sounding majors post the lowest mean LSAT, while psychology sits mid-table.

Florida public institutions offering this program

4 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023, at these levels: Doctorate (professional practice). A school appears here if it awards anything in the field, however limited its offering — a technical college teaching only practical nursing has a nursing program. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Doctorate (professional practice)

Florida International University

Doctorate (professional practice)

Florida State University

Doctorate (professional practice)

University of Florida

Doctorate (professional practice)

Source: federal IPEDS completions data for 2023, first majors only — the most recent year published. ⚠ It records what was awarded, which is strong evidence of what is offered, but a program launched since 2023 will not appear here. Check the institution’s own catalog before applying.

Updated 21 September 2026. ⚠ Program pages describe a field of study, not one school’s degree — always read the catalog of the institution you are applying to.