Master’s in Employment Law: What to Study and Where to Find It Online

What a Master’s in Employment Law Means Without a JD

Most nonlawyers who want employment law study choose a Master of Legal Studies, a Juris Master, or a similar degree. These programs admit people with a bachelor’s degree and teach legal reasoning for work in business, government, and other organizations. They do not prepare you to take a bar exam or represent clients.

Programs labeled LLM often expect a prior law degree. If a school offers both, read who each one admits. Our MLS and LLM comparison explains the difference, and the MLS and JD guide covers the attorney route.

Employment Law Tracks Go by Different Names

Few universities use the exact phrase employment law as a degree title. You will usually find it as a concentration, often paired with human resources. These are the names used by programs we have reviewed:

• Texas A&M: HR and Employment Law, Policy and Management
• Florida State: Employment Law and HR Risk Management
• Emory: Employment Law and Human Resources
• Miami: Employment Law and Human Resources Risk Management
• SMU: Human Resources and Employment Law
• Tennessee: Human Resources and Employment Law
• UC Law San Francisco: Employment

Who Studies Employment Law Online

The degree tends to fit people who already work near workplace rules: human resources specialists, managers who write or enforce policy, and labor relations staff. The goal is to recognize an issue sooner and bring a better question to counsel. It is not to replace counsel.

For pay context, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a May 2025 median of $75,940 for human resources specialists and $95,420 for labor relations specialists. Those figures describe the occupations, not what graduates of any one degree earn. Our salary guide explains how to read them.

Compare Format, Schedule, and Tuition

Formats differ more than the track names suggest. Florida State’s online Juris Master is asynchronous and lets you adjust your course load each semester. SMU’s online MLS curriculum pairs asynchronous work with weekly live sessions in eight-week courses. Tennessee’s online route has no live sessions.

Published tuition also varies. Texas A&M lists $36,000 for its 30-credit MLS. SMU lists $35,010 plus a $3,000 distance learning fee. Tennessee’s online rate is $819 per credit for nonresidents and $744 for residents. Check the current rate for your start term, and use the degree cost guide to budget fees.

Emory runs a fully online 30-credit MLS over 20 months, with a required virtual boot camp at the start. Miami’s 30-credit MLS has no on-campus requirement and ends with a writing or project capstone. Details like these decide whether a program fits your calendar.

Choose Between a Legal Studies Track and an HR Master’s

An HR master’s usually centers on staffing, compensation, and organizational development. A legal studies degree with an employment track centers on rules, contracts, and legal analysis. Neither is better in general. Compare the required courses against the responsibility you want to handle next.

The human resources legal studies rankings compare programs with employment or labor coursework, and the affordable programs list sorts by price. For a wider view, start with the online rankings and read the program cards for the schools above.

Questions to Ask Before You Apply

Ask how many electives the employment track actually requires, and which of those courses run every term. Ask whether the track is a formal concentration noted on your transcript or a suggested set of electives. Ask what the capstone involves, since some programs end with a paper and others with a project.

Then read the application steps in our MLS application guide and the concentration comparison, which shows how to read past a track title and into the courses behind it.