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Major · Legal Professions & Studies

A catchall CIP for legal-studies programs that don’t fit the named codes

Legal Professions and Studies, Other (CIP 22.9999) is a residual category for legal-studies bachelor’s and associate’s programs that don’t map cleanly to Pre-Law, Legal Studies, or Paralegal. About 505 degrees are awarded each year across 29 colleges, with bachelor’s completers reporting a five-year earnings median of $58,679. Specific program content varies considerably by institution.

Schools offering
29
Annual completions
505
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$57k

About this major

Legal Professions and Studies, Other (CIP 22.9999) is the administrative residual within the legal-studies family — the CIP definition is one sentence, “Any program in law, legal services, and legal studies not listed above.” That breadth is the defining feature. Programs reported under this code typically include legal-studies bachelor’s that aren’t strict pre-law, interdisciplinary law-and-society programs, dispute-resolution and mediation concentrations, and paralegal-adjacent tracks that don’t fit the credentialed paralegal CIP. Coursework usually combines constitutional and statutory foundations, legal research and writing, ethics, an exposure to civil and criminal procedure, and electives in compliance, mediation, criminal justice, or public policy.

The major rewards careful reading and structured argument. You spend time parsing statutes and case opinions, building written analyses that distinguish facts from holdings, and learning to navigate procedural rules. Students who enjoy applying rules to fact patterns and writing precisely tend to fit; students looking for a vocational pipeline to a single named occupation usually do not, because no single Standard Occupational Classification code maps to this CIP and graduates fan out across many destinations.

Scale is small and concentrated. About 505 degrees are awarded each year across 29 colleges, with the University of Arizona producing 185 of those (37% of the national total) and Roger Williams University accounting for another 77 across both degree levels. Bachelor’s completers report a five-year earnings median of $58,679, and associate’s completers report $43,168 — the gap reflecting the difference between paralegal and legal-administration roles at the associate’s level and the broader compliance, contract-administration, and operations lanes that bachelor’s graduates typically enter.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

No federal crosswalk data available for this major yet.

Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$57k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$43k

Bachelor's

$59k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you enjoy parsing statutes and case opinions and writing precise analyses that distinguish facts from holdings, if compliance work in financial services, healthcare, or data privacy sounds genuinely interesting as a destination rather than a fallback, if you’ve checked the actual course catalog at the specific college you’re considering and the curriculum matches your interests rather than relying on the CIP label, and if you’re comfortable with the reality that 22.9999 is a residual category and the program at one school may bear little resemblance to the program at another. If you want a credentialed paralegal path, also confirm the program offers ABA-approved coursework and supports certification preparation for NALA CP, NALS PP, or AAPI PACE, since those credentials drive paralegal hiring more than the bachelor’s itself.

Reconsider this route if your primary goal is law-school admission — the American Bar Association is explicit that no pre-law track is required, and published LSAT data consistently shows philosophy, economics, English, history, classics, and political-science majors outperforming legal-studies majors on the test. Reconsider if you want a clear vocational on-ramp to one named occupation, because the empty career list in the data packet reflects a real fact: graduates fan out into compliance, contract administration, claims, court administration, and paralegal-adjacent roles rather than a single coded job title. Reconsider if the specific program you’re looking at doesn’t name what makes it distinctive — at 505 completions across 29 colleges, the institution-level program design matters far more than the CIP code, and a vague catalog page is a warning sign rather than a feature.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Legal Professions and Studies, Other

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 0 185 185
Roger Williams University Bristol, RI 45 32 77
Berkeley College-New York New York, NY 10 18 28
Montclair State University Montclair, NJ 0 28 28
Temple University Philadelphia, PA 0 27 27
Berkeley College-Woodland Park Woodland Park, NJ 3 19 22
University of the District of Columbia Washington, DC 22 0 22
Central Penn College Summerdale, PA 0 16 16
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 0 15 15
Pennsylvania Western University California, PA 0 12 12
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Legal Studies

2,891 completions/yr

Communication and Media Studies, Other

1,503 completions/yr

Theological and Ministerial Studies, Other

492 completions/yr

Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions, Other

374 completions/yr

Philosophy and Religious Studies, Other

95 completions/yr

Non-Professional Legal Studies, Other

4 completions/yr

Classical and Ancient Studies, Other

3 completions/yr

Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies, Other

2 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What does CIP 22.9999 actually mean, and why is it labeled “Other”?
The CIP definition is one sentence: “Any program in law, legal services, and legal studies not listed above.” That makes 22.9999 an administrative residual — a catchall for legal-studies programs that don’t fit one of the named sibling codes such as Pre-Law Studies (22.0001), Law (22.0101, typically a JD-track graduate code), Legal Assistant/Paralegal (22.0301), Legal Administrative Assistant (22.0302), or Court Reporting (22.0303). When a university’s legal-studies bachelor’s blends criminal-justice, dispute-resolution, public-policy, and law-and-society content, it often gets reported under 22.9999 because no single named code captures the curriculum. The honest read: the CIP label tells you almost nothing about what the program actually teaches at a given school.
How does this major compare to Legal Studies, Pre-Law, and Paralegal — which one should I look at?
Legal Studies (CIP 22.0000, 2,891 completions) is the much larger named sibling and the default flexible bachelor’s for someone interested in law without committing to law school. Pre-Law Studies (CIP 22.0001) is structured around law-school preparation and is most useful at institutions that build pre-law advising into the program. Legal Assistant/Paralegal (CIP 22.0301) is the credentialed paraprofessional path — it usually pairs with ABA-approved coursework and certifications such as NALA CP, NALS PP, or AAPI PACE, which matter more for paralegal hiring than the bachelor’s itself. Legal Professions and Studies, Other (22.9999) sits between these — at 505 completions across 29 schools it is small and idiosyncratic, so the specific program at the specific college you’re considering matters more than the CIP code.
What jobs do bachelor’s graduates of this major actually end up in?
The career list in the data packet is empty because no single Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code maps directly to 22.9999 — the field’s graduates fan out into roles that don’t require the “legal” label. Common bachelor’s destinations include compliance officer roles in financial services, healthcare, and data privacy, contract administration, claims and underwriting support, court administration, real-estate title work, and law-firm operations management. Paralegal work is also a common destination, though employers often prefer candidates with ABA-approved paralegal coursework or certifications layered on top. The same destinations are open to political-science, business, and general-studies graduates, so the major is one of several reasonable on-ramps rather than a credential employers screen for by name.
If I’m thinking about law school, should I major in this?
Probably not, and the reason is structural. The American Bar Association is explicit that no specific pre-law track is required for ABA-accredited law schools, and published LSAT score data consistently shows philosophy, economics, English, history, classics, and political-science majors outperforming legal-studies majors on the test. Top law schools draw heavily from those disciplines plus STEM, and the major matters far less than GPA and LSAT score. Pick a major you’ll excel at — one that produces a strong GPA, faculty recommendations, and a writing sample — and take the LSAT seriously junior year. A 3.85 philosophy GPA with a 170 LSAT outperforms a 3.6 legal-studies GPA with a 158 LSAT at every admissions committee in the country.
Is the bachelor’s actually worth more than an associate’s here?
The data shows a meaningful split — bachelor’s completers report a five-year earnings median of $58,679 versus $43,168 for associate’s completers, a roughly $15,500 gap that holds up across the cohort. The wider story is that the associate’s in this catchall typically pulls toward paralegal and legal-administration coursework at career-focused institutions, while the bachelor’s expands the destination set to include compliance, contract administration, and law-firm operations. If your goal is paralegal work, the credential that moves the needle is ABA-approved paralegal training plus a NALA CP or NALS PP certification — those matter more for hiring than the difference between an associate’s and a bachelor’s. If your goal is compliance, regulatory affairs, or contract management, the bachelor’s is the more typical entry point.
Where is this major taught — and does the institution choice matter more than usual?
Institution choice matters more here than for named CIP codes precisely because 22.9999 is a residual category. The 29-college footprint is concentrated: the University of Arizona alone produces 185 of the 505 completions (37% of the national total), and Roger Williams University accounts for another 77 across both degree levels. Other meaningful programs sit at Berkeley College (NY and NJ campuses), Montclair State, Temple, the University of the District of Columbia, Central Penn College, Western Michigan, and Pennsylvania Western. These programs vary widely in orientation — some are criminal-justice-adjacent, some are dispute-resolution and mediation focused, some are pre-law concentrations within liberal-arts colleges, and some are paralegal-adjacent at career-focused institutions. Read the actual course catalog before applying, not the CIP code.