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Legislative assistant education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a legislative assistant. Legislative assistants usually study political science, business, or law. 75% of legislative assistants hold a bachelor's degree, and 11% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 4,060 real legislative assistant resumes to see exactly what legislative assistant education sections show.
The most common colleges for legislative assistants are the Florida State University and the Florida State University.
There are also many online legislative assistant courses to help get the education required to be a legislative assistant.
There are certain legislative assistant certifications that you should consider. These legislative assistant certifications include Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) and Certified Professional - Human Resource (IPMA-CP).
What education do you need to become a legislative assistant?
What degree do you need to be a legislative assistant?
- Bachelor's, 75%
- Master's, 11%
- Associate, 6%
- Doctorate, 6%
- Other Degrees, 2%
What should I major in to become a legislative assistant?
- Political Science, 43%
- Business, 9%
- Law, 6%
- History, 6%
- Other Majors, 36%
Most common colleges for legislative assistants
| Legislative assistant common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| Florida State University | 12.22% |
| American University | 9.63% |
| George Washington University, The | 9.44% |
| Michigan State University | 6.85% |
| Pennsylvania State University | 6.30% |
Best majors for legislative assistants
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Political Science | 43.1% |
| 2 | Business | 8.9% |
| 3 | Law | 5.8% |
| 4 | History | 5.7% |
| 5 | Communication | 5.4% |
Best colleges for legislative assistants
The best colleges for legislative assistants are Northwestern University, Stanford University, and University of Pennsylvania.
A legislative assistant with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for legislative assistants. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become legislative assistants.
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
2. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-state tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
3. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$51,354
Enrollment
7,083
4. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
5. Texas Wesleyan University
Fort Worth, TX • Private
In-state tuition
$30,300
Enrollment
1,445
6. University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$13,226
Enrollment
31,568
7. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$14,184
Enrollment
30,845
8. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
In-state tuition
$54,104
Enrollment
7,089
9. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$53,948
Enrollment
17,238
10. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$55,695
Enrollment
6,596
20 best online courses for legislative assistants
Advertising disclosure
1. Social Policy for Social Services & Health Practitioners
In the U.S., social policy accounts for two-thirds of government spending. Knowing how policies are constructed, what values underlie them, and how they succeed or fail makes everyone more effective at work or in their civic role. This specialization includes an HONORS track in which learners will complete a professional social policy analysis.\n\nTeachers, health care workers, police, and social workers interact with policy daily, but all of us should care about the impact and effectiveness of...
2. Global Health Policy
In this course, learners will become familiar with principles and theories of global health problems, and major challenges and controversies in improving global population health as well as practical applications of quantitative methods to analyze and interpret issues and challenges for policy. Topics will include health and foreign policy, health governance, acute disease surveillance, non-communicable diseases, burden of disease, universal health coverage, health systems strengthening, health...
3. Master Public Policy Analysis In Six Easy Steps: The Basics
An Introduction to Policy Analysis Concepts and Practice For The Real World!...
4. Press Coverage, Publicity & Public Relations For Branding
Public relations to reach 100,000+ people with influencer marketing, publicity, and press coverage for personal branding...
5. Engineering Life: Synbio, Bioethics & Public Policy
Synbio is a diverse field with diverse applications, and the different contexts (e.g., gain-of-function research, biofuels) raise different ethical and governance challenges. The objective of this course is to increase learners’ awareness and understanding of ethical and policy/governance issues that arise in the design, conduct and application of synthetic biology. The course will begin with a short history of recombinant DNA technology and how governance of that science developed and evolved,...
6. Systems Thinking In Public Health
This course provides an introduction to systems thinking and systems models in public health. Problems in public health and health policy tend to be complex with many actors, institutions and risk factors involved. If an outcome depends on many interacting and adaptive parts and actors the outcome cannot be analyzed or predicted with traditional statistical methods. Systems thinking is a core skill in public health and helps health policymakers build programs and policies that are aware of and...
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8. Executive Travel Planning for Virtual Assistants
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9. Breastfeeding: Public Health Perspectives
Engaging in this course will provide you with the opportunity to think about breastfeeding and its public health implications. The Socio-Ecological Model will be the framework of the course as we think about how each level of the Model (individual, interpersonal, community, organizational, and public policy) impacts breastfeeding practices in the United States, and globally. Through short video lectures you will be introduced to relevant topics related to the public health perspectives of...
10. The People, Power, and Pride of Public Health
The People, Power, and Pride of Public Health provides an engaging overview of the incredible accomplishments and promise of the public health field. The first module includes interviews with legendary public health figures whose work led to millions of lives saved with vaccines, air bags and car seats, and the federal Women Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program. The second module brings key public health tools to life -- including use of data, communications, and policy - through...
11. 2017 Great Decisions: Foreign Policy Association
Learn about leading foreign policy challenges confronting U.S. policy makers and the American public...
12. Public Speaking Training & Facilitator Certification
World-class public speaking training: Learn presentation skills, engage your audience, develop confidence, facilitate...
13. Data Analytics in the Public Sector with R
Every government entity collects and stores millions of data points to perform administrative and legislative duties, allocate resources, and make decisions. Professionals in the public sector need the necessary skills to accurately interpret and inform administrators and policymakers about the meaning behind these data.\n\nThis Specialization will equip you with fundamental technical skills using the R programming language to gather, manipulate, analyze, visualize, and interpret data to inform...
14. Data and Health Indicators in Public Health Practice
Epidemiology is often described as the cornerstone science in public health. Epidemiology in public health practice uses study design and analyses to identify causes in an outbreak situation, guides interventions to improve population health, and evaluates programs and policies. In this course, we'll define the role of the professional epidemiologist as it relates to public health services, functions, and competencies. With that foundation in mind, we'll introduce you to the problem solving...
15. Critical Issues in Urban Education
Urban school reform in the United States is characterized by contentious, politicized debate. This course explores a set of critical issues in the education and educational reform space, with a focus on aspects of the field that have sparked controversy and polarized views. We will dig into these debates, situating them within the larger history of public education and school reform, and considering the viewpoints, the evidence, and translation of issues into educational policy. We will...
16. Leadership for Public Health Crises
Leadership for Public Health Crises will enable current and prospective managers, directors, unit heads, and elected officials to effectively lead their organizational response to profound health-related emergencies and to build leadership capacity across multiple sectors, agencies, organizations, and divisions. This series of courses prepares graduate students (in, e.g., public administration, public health, social work, business, homeland security, education, and related fields) and...
17. Public Health in Humanitarian Crises 2
This course, Public Health in Humanitarian Crises 2, addresses public health issues of people affected by disasters, both natural or conflict-related. It discusses the many changes that occur in people’s lives when they are uprooted by a disaster, including many important topics related to humanitarian crises, such as when there is an epidemic a public health emergency; what do we mean with the humanitarian development nexus; what are the basics of disaster epidemiology and surveillance;...
18. The Business of Health Care
This Specialization was designed to help you keep pace with the rapidly changing world of health and health care. Through partnership with Wharton and Penn Medicine, you’ll learn from experts in business acumen, health care management, and health care policy to develop the skills you’ll need to successfully navigate the quickly evolving landscape of this fast-growing field.* By the end of this specialization, you will have a strong foundational understanding of the American health care system,...
19. Bats, Ducks, and Pandemics: An Introduction to One Health Policy
Welcome to "Bats, Ducks, and Pandemics: An Introduction to One Health Policy". One Health is the concept that human, animal, and environmental/ecosystem health are linked. The concept provides a useful framework for examining complex health issues such as food safety and security, emerging and vector-borne diseases, and antimicrobial resistance. It can be used to analyze government policies to determine if they are effective in improving health and well-being. Agriculture is the foundation of...
20. Participatory Approaches in Public Health
This specialisation guides learners through the process of designing an appropriate participatory approach to a given public health challenge, focusing on the history, theory and practice of participatory approaches to public health. You'll gain an understanding of the impact of social and cultural contexts in which public health programmes exist, as well as, why participatory approaches could better assist in meeting the population’s needs and solving certain health-related challenges...
Top 10 most affordable universities for legislative assistants
The most affordable schools for legislative assistants are University of Florida, baruch college of the city university of new york, and california state university - bakersfield.
If the best universities for legislative assistants are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for legislative assistants.
1. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
2. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,262
Cost of attendance
14,046
3. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Cost of attendance
16,714
4. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
5. SUNY Farmingdale
Farmingdale, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$8,306
Cost of attendance
16,091
6. Florida International University
Miami, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,556
Cost of attendance
19,434
7. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
8. City College of New York of the City University of New York, The
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,140
Cost of attendance
14,430
9. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Brooklyn, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,240
Cost of attendance
13,991
10. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Cost of attendance
14,469
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for legislative assistants
The hardest universities for legislative assistants to get into are Northwestern University, Stanford University, and University of Pennsylvania.
Some great schools for legislative assistants are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for legislative assistants based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Admissions rate
4%
SAT average
1,497
3. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
4. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
Admissions rate
5%
SAT average
1,520
5. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
Admissions rate
15%
SAT average
1,456
6. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
22%
SAT average
1,420
7. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
8. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
13%
SAT average
1,445
9. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA • Private
Admissions rate
15%
SAT average
1,448
10. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,517
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for legislative assistants
The easiest schools for legislative assistants to get into are Barry University, wayland baptist university, and oklahoma wesleyan university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a legislative assistant without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for legislative assistants.
1. Barry University
Miami, FL • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,006
2. Wayland Baptist University
Plainview, TX • Private
Admissions rate
98%
SAT average
1,003
3. Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, OK • Private
Admissions rate
68%
SAT average
964
4. University of North Texas at Dallas
Dallas, TX • Private
Admissions rate
83%
SAT average
992
5. Notre Dame de Namur University
Belmont, CA • Private
Admissions rate
82%
SAT average
983
6. Holy Names University
Oakland, CA • Private
Admissions rate
70%
SAT average
849
7. Thomas More University
Crestview Hills, KY • Private
Admissions rate
90%
SAT average
1,099
8. Notre Dame College
Cleveland, OH • Private
Admissions rate
90%
SAT average
994
9. Fresno Pacific University
Fresno, CA • Private
Admissions rate
85%
SAT average
1,053
10. University of Baltimore
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
78%
SAT average
1,020
Average legislative assistant salary by education level
| Legislative assistant education level | Legislative assistant salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $64,321 |
| High School Diploma or Less | $39,268 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $52,042 |
| Some College/ Associate Degree | $54,271 |
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025