University of San Diego LL.M. in Taxation in 2027

The University of San Diego's Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation asks for 24 credit hours, offers day and evening classes on campus, and gives Juris Doctor (J.D.) students at American Bar Association (ABA) accredited law schools a route to finish in one more semester by applying advanced tax credits they already earned.

It's the in-person Tax LL.M. at the University of San Diego School of Law, a private university in San Diego, California. The school calls it the only Tax LL.M. in San Diego, a city it says is home to all the big four accounting firms along with leaders in energy and biotech.

You build the degree from graduate tax courses, with just four required and a long list of electives, so you can steer it toward corporate work, controversy work, estate planning or international tax. Adjunct professors include partners from the big four firms, prominent tax lawyers and tax professionals from Fortune 500 companies, and the school points to a low student-to-faculty ratio that gives you individual attention.

You can also earn credit working with real clients in the school's tax clinics.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

You arrive as a lawyer, so the program builds tax practice skills rather than leading to a new license. The school says that if you're American-educated, you need a J.D. from a U.S. law school. Each fall, judges from the United States Tax Court request, consider and interview Tax LL.M. candidates for clerkships, and the school counts several former Tax Court clerks among its alumni.

The Tax Court itself says some of its judges prefer candidates with a tax LL.M. The school says its alumni network exceeds 1,000 graduates across every tax-related field, and that graduates are held in high esteem in the San Diego tax community. It also reports an exceptional employment rate within nine months of graduation. You can also join the Tax Bar's annual Washington, D.C. delegation to present research to legislators.

Where this degree can lead: Masters in Taxation Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Recent J.D. graduates who took advanced tax courses: the one-semester option applies up to 12 credits of those courses, so you may need only one more term.
• Lawyers who want a tailored degree: only four courses are required, and the remaining credits come from advanced tax offerings you choose.
• Working attorneys: full-time and part-time paths exist, coursework runs in the day and the evening, and the degree can take up to four years.
• Future tax controversy lawyers: the federal, state income tax and sales and use tax clinics put you on real disputes with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and California tax agencies under supervising attorneys.

Four courses are required. Corporate Tax covers the federal income taxation of C corporations and their shareholders, from organizing a corporation through redemptions, liquidations and reorganizations, and it compares corporations with partnerships and S corporations. Partnership Tax follows a partnership from formation and basis through allocations, mergers, sales of interests and retiring partners.

International Taxation looks at inbound and outbound cross-border activity and the rules for income from sources inside or outside the United States. Tax Research is the course tagged with the writing requirement. After that, you pick from advanced offerings such as Federal Tax Procedure, which walks through IRS audits, appeals, penalties and collections, State and Local Taxation, Federal Estate and Gift Taxation, Transfer Pricing, and Consolidated Group Tax.

Tax I, the basic income tax course, is a prerequisite for most graduate tax courses. If you never took it, you can usually audit it in your first semester, though it won't count toward your 24 credits. The school's own write-up of the program also points to Tax Litigation, taught with practical insight from the IRS Chief Counsel's Office, and Financial Accounting for Tax, which bridges accounting and tax law.

The clinics are listed as courses too. In the State Income Tax Clinic, run with the Franchise Tax Board's Taxpayer Rights Advocate Office, you help taxpayers with state income tax appeals before the Office of Tax Appeals.

The sales and use tax clinic is a joint effort with the California State Board of Equalization, and in the Federal Tax Clinic you represent low income taxpayers in their disputes with the IRS. Clinic work trains you in interviewing clients, identifying evidence, drafting appeals briefs and representing clients at hearings.

Courses the School Names

• Consolidated Group Tax
• Federal Estate & Gift Taxation
• Federal Tax Procedure
• Finance & Accounting for Lawyers
• Taxation of Property Transactions
• State and Local Taxation
• Transfer Pricing

Standout Features

• Adjunct faculty include partners from the big four public accounting firms
• Credit-bearing California State Tax Clinic and Federal Tax Clinic
• Home of the San Diego chapter of the Young Tax Lawyers committee of the State Bar of California Taxation Section
• Hosts the Chamberlain International Tax Conference, the RJS LAW Tax Institute, a Tax Speaker Series and the Richard C. Pugh Lecture on Tax Law and Policy
• Judges from the U.S. Tax Court interview LL.M. candidates for clerkships each fall
• Network of over 1,000 tax LL.M. graduates
• One-semester option for students with advanced tax courses from their JD
• Only Tax LL.M. program in San Diego

The degree takes 24 credit hours of graduate tax coursework. You can begin in the fall, spring or summer, and the summer start is only for part-time students. The school says you can finish in as little as one semester if you arrive with prior J.D. tax coursework, or you can take up to four years.

If you take 9 or more credits, you're a full-time student, and if you take 8 or fewer, you're part time. The one-semester option has conditions. You need a grade of 2.0 or better in the advanced tax courses you bring, and you must have completed them within 30 months of enrolling.

Graduates of other law schools can transfer advanced tax credits too, pending approval.

The University of San Diego reports a graduate charge of $1,638 per credit to federal data, which gives you a starting figure for the 24 credit hours. The Graduate Tax Program has historically sponsored the California Tax Bar's annual meeting, and students can attend its educational sessions on current tax topics at a significantly reduced fee. Because the clinics carry credit, that hands-on work counts inside your 24 credits.

You attend class on the San Diego campus, and the school offers coursework in both the day and the evening. Evening sections let you keep a job at a firm or an agency while you study.

On campus, the law school hosts a Tax Speaker Series and a named lecture on tax law and policy, and it's home to the San Diego chapter of the Young Tax Lawyers Committee of the State Bar of California Taxation Section.

The Office of Career and Professional Development supports students moving from the classroom into tax practice.

A Southern California tax attorney who blogs about tax LL.M. programs credited the University of San Diego with a strong employment record, alumni base and faculty history. The school cites a number 10 national ranking of its Tax LL.M. from LLM Guide, and when TaxProf Blog sorted the 2026-27 U.S. News tax law rankings down to law schools with graduate tax programs, San Diego came in 7th.

• Which of my prior J.D. tax courses would count toward the 12 credits in the one-semester option?
• How do the clinic placements work, and how many credits can I take in each of the federal, state income tax and sales tax clinics?
• Which electives are offered in the term I plan to start, and which are taught by adjunct partners?
• How do part-time students arrange evening courses, and what pace keeps me within four years?
• How do the judges at the fall Tax Court clerkship interviews choose candidates, and when should I apply?

• Best Master's in Taxation Rank 19 of 78, master's
• On-Campus Master's in Taxation Rank 10 of 37, master's
• Part-Time Programs Rank 10 of 39, master's
• Best for Working Professionals Rank 11 of 46, master's
• Best for Parents Rank 11 of 46, master's
• Private University Programs Rank 10 of 43, master's
• Internship or Practicum Rank 9 of 24, master's
• LLM in Taxation Rank 8 of 22, master's
• Best Programs in California Rank 6 of 12, master's

• LL.M. in Taxation (Online)

  LL.M., Master's

  Fully Online $1,200 per credit Score 62.2

• Master of Science in Taxation

  M.S., Master's

  On Campus $1,790 per credit Score 36.0

• Golden Gate University

  LLM in Taxation

  California $1,860 per credit Score 62.1

• Golden Gate University

  Master of Science in Taxation

  California $1,250 per credit Score 62.1

• University of Cincinnati

  Master of Science in Taxation (Online)

  Ohio $1,260 per credit Score 61.7

• Taft University System

  Master of Science in Taxation (MST)

  Colorado $600 per credit Score 62.7