Maine's Department of Professional and Financial Regulation brings together resources for consumer credit, insurance, financial institutions and professional licensing. That breadth gives a Maine master's in legal studies applicant several ways to focus a degree. Start with the kind of record or customer issue you manage, then compare courses that explain its legal context. A broad MLS can make sense when your responsibilities cross several areas, provided the electives fit your actual work.
Maine applicants working across consumer finance, insurance or licensing need to choose the legal problem before the degree. Wake Forest offers a financial-services direction, Florida State permits cross-concentration study for mixed responsibilities, and Arizona gives a lower tuition benchmark for general compliance. These options invite different course questions using the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation's resources.
The 3 universities below offer online study from outside Maine. Known published enrollment exclusions are applied. Confirm authorization for your address and start date with the university. Our ranking criteria.
Compare the Legal Studies Options for Maine
Scroll across the table to compare the study plan and price.
University
Study Format
Credits
Displayed Degree Price
Wake Forest UniversitySchool of Law’s Online Master of Legal Studies (MLS)Online alternative · NC
University of ArizonaCollege of Law’s Online Master of Legal Studies (MLS)Online alternative · AZ
Online
30
$22,500Calculated base tuition
Tuition amounts use the conditions shown in each card; fees and academic years vary. Table controls change this comparison view. The full reviews below retain their original ranking order.
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Wake Forest merits an early look for a Maine applicant whose work centers on financial institutions or consumer-facing financial services. Its MLS includes Financial Services and Business Law and Compliance options within 30 credits. Asynchronous courses use weekly assignments, giving you a calendar to compare with Florida State's adjustable semester loads.
Where it stands out. Pick the part of Maine's Department of Professional and Financial Regulation closest to your job and ask for the corresponding course plan. Consumer lending, insurance and business licensing call for different subjects, even when all three involve reading rules and records.
What to weigh. Florida State permits cross-concentration electives, and Arizona offers a lower published tuition. Compare Wake Forest's allowed courses and complete bill with both. Its optional campus intensives add a faculty-contact opportunity, so decide whether you would use them when assessing the program.
Curriculum, Admission, Tuition, and Sources +
How the Program Works
Asynchronous courses with weekly assignments
Optional campus intensives
Up to six approved graduate transfer credits
Documented Subjects and Concentrations
Business Law and Compliance
Health Law and Policy
Human Resources
Financial Services
General
Admission Details
At least one year of professional experience in any field documented on a résumé or CV
Tuition and Rate Conditions
Published tuition for the 30-credit online MLS. Add a $270 technology fee in each fall and spring term; the summer term has no technology fee. Books and materials are additional.
$1,284 per credit × 30 credits = $38,520 in base tuition.
Florida State may fit a Maine role that crosses financial regulation, contracts and technology risk. Those subjects sit among its five Juris Master concentrations, and electives can be taken across concentration boundaries. The online 30-credit program is asynchronous with adjustable semester course loads, letting you compare both academic breadth and pace with Wake Forest's financial-services option.
Where it stands out. Ask an adviser to map two recurring responsibilities, such as interpreting a customer agreement and researching a compliance issue, onto a single plan. Maine's regulatory department provides public examples you can use to explain the decisions behind that request.
What to weigh. A Maine resident should begin with the published $45,806.70 nonresident base tuition, then apply only a confirmed scholarship or waiver. Arizona's $22,500 base tuition is substantially lower. FSU's extra cost needs a useful concentration combination, and insurance-specific depth still requires inspection of the actual courses.
Curriculum, Admission, Tuition, and Sources +
How the Program Works
Fully online and asynchronous
Five concentrations with cross-concentration electives
Flexible semester course loads
Documented Subjects and Concentrations
Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Technology Risk Management
Employment Law and HR Risk Management
Financial Regulation and Compliance
Health Care Regulation
Legal Risk Management, Contracting, and Compliance
Tuition and Rate Conditions
2026–2027. Calculated nonresident base tuition for 30 credits. The 2026–2027 page lists $683.05 per credit for Florida residents and $1,260.10 after the conditional out-of-state scholarship. Published rates include the $30 distance learning fee.
$1,526.89 per credit × 30 credits = $45,806.70 in base tuition.
FSU explicitly permits VA education benefits and military tuition assistance for the online JM. Eligible out-of-state veterans and dependents may qualify for tuition waivers.
Arizona puts an explicit $22,500 base-tuition calculation into the Maine comparison: 30 credits at $750 per credit. Its Compliance and Legal Risk Management concentration sits on a foundation of legal analysis, research and writing. This is the option to inspect when your responsibilities span several regulated activities and a broad legal skill set matters more than a narrow industry title.
Where it stands out. Use a Maine disciplinary record or regulatory report to ask what written analysis students complete. License administration and consumer lending call for different electives, so have the adviser work from your actual responsibilities.
What to weigh. Wake Forest has a named Financial Services choice, and Florida State offers financial regulation alongside cross-concentration electives. Arizona should compete on the content you can complete, not price alone. Fees add to tuition, and a general compliance concentration doesn't guarantee specialized insurance or consumer-credit instruction.
Curriculum, Admission, Tuition, and Sources +
How the Program Works
The online MLS requires 30 credits.
Foundational courses include legal analysis, writing and research.
You can choose general legal studies or a concentration.
Documented Subjects and Concentrations
Compliance and Legal Risk Management
Criminal Law and Policy
Environmental Law and Policy
Human Rights
Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy
Intellectual Property
International Trade and Business Law
Tuition and Rate Conditions
Published online MLS tuition per credit; fees and other expenses are additional.
$750 per credit × 30 credits = $22,500 in base tuition.
Preserving the Value of Earlier Graduate Coursework
For a Maine professional returning to school, an earlier graduate course can be relevant to the new degree even if it came from another field. Wake Forest's MLS curriculum page describes eligibility for up to six approved graduate transfer credits. Gather the syllabus and ask which requirement the course could satisfy. Then check whether the approval changes when you can take your preferred electives. Wake Forest's Maine comparison should be read alongside Arizona's broader concentration choices. The cost guide helps translate the resulting credit plan into a personal tuition calculation.
Asking About a Degree Plan That Crosses Job Functions
Maine applicants who handle several functions within one organization may find a single specialization too narrow. FSU's Juris Master allows electives across its concentrations. Ask an adviser to show how a plan could combine the legal subjects behind your actual responsibilities, and which foundation courses must come first. Compare that proposal with our FSU assessment for Maine instead of choosing from concentration titles alone. The MLS value guide encourages a concrete test: identify the work you expect to do differently and whether the approved degree plan supplies enough practice in doing it.
Building a Focused Degree Plan From Maine
Choose a specific regulatory area before asking an admissions adviser for a course plan. Consumer lending may call for different electives from professional licensing or insurance. Compare contracts, administrative law, consumer protection and investigations, then check how much choice the degree really permits. For online study, include live-class attendance and access to faculty in the comparison. The ability to remain in your current job only helps if the weekly schedule is workable.
Maine's regulatory department publishes disciplinary information and industry reports that can help you explore the work. Review the documents before treating legal studies as a career change. If you already have military or professional training, check the applicable licensing resources separately from any university policy on graduate transfer credit.
Compliance Officer Pay in Maine
10th percentile pay
$50,480
Median annual pay
$83,740
90th percentile pay
$118,060
Maine has an estimated 1,790 compliance officer jobs. The occupation’s median annual wage is $83,740, with the 10th and 90th percentiles at $50,480 and $118,060.
BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 13-1041. Occupation wages cover workers with varied education and experience; these are not MLS graduate outcomes or starting salary estimates. BLS compliance officer wage data.
Each ranking card contains the university sources for its curriculum, admission, delivery, and tuition details.
Questions About Legal Studies in Maine
What Should Maine Applicants Prioritize in a General MLS?+
Enough elective freedom to study the regulatory area they actually use. Ask for a course plan covering consumer credit, insurance, licensing or another specific interest, and verify that the courses are open to master's students.
Does Military Training Count the Same Way for Maine Licensing and an MLS?+
No single policy covers both. Maine's professional licensing resources discuss military experience, while each university sets its own graduate credit rules. Check the relevant process for each goal.
