Legal Studies Minor
Why pursue a Legal Studies Minor at GVSU?
The legal studies minor is open to students from any major. It is appropriate for students who have a general interest in law or for students considering law school or other graduate study in law. It is also appropriate for students who are pursuing a career that has a significant connection to law and legal matters and who wish to deepen their understanding of the legal system. The legal studies minor is not intended to prepare students to work as paralegals, and it is not approved by the American Bar Association. Students intending to work as paralegals should choose the legal studies major.
In the past five years, 30 students have graduated with a minor in Legal Studies. These students had 14 different majors, including Accounting, Allied Health Sciences, Classics, Communication Studies, Criminal Justice, English, Finance, Management, Marketing, Political Science, Psychology, Public & Nonprofit Administration, Social Work, and Women and Gender Studies.
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Employment Outlook and Career Advice
Schedule regular meetings with your faculty mentor and a Career Center advisor to map out your path after graduation. Don't wait — your internship is one of your best chances to build a professional network and develop skills employers actually want.
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Curious about where a legal studies degree can take you? These articles are a good starting point:
Explore job growth projections and salary data for careers common among legal studies graduates:
Dig deeper into the legal field with these professional organizations, research tools, and publications
Program Transparency
- The average class size for lower-level LS courses is 25.3.
- The average class size for upper-level LS courses is 23.5
(2025-26 data)
- 93% of recent graduates are successfully placed (employed, attending graduate school, or both).
- 28% of recent graduates are in graduate or law school.
(Survey of Graduates from July 1, 2023—June 30, 2024)
Student Body ProfileLS majors at time of graduation
- Total graduates: 177
- Age under 25: 87%
- Age 25-29: 8%
- Age 30-39: 3%
- Age 40+: 2%
- Female: 83%
- Male: 17%
- White: 78%
- African-American/Black: 7%
- Hispanic: 6%
- Multi-Ethnic: 6%
- Asian: 1%
- Foreign citizen: 0%
- Transfer students: 28%
(August 2020 to April 2025)