Bar pass rates climb nationwide for July exam
Bar pass rates for the July 2024 bar exam are strong throughout the country. (Image from Shutterstock)
Bar pass rates for the July 2024 bar exam are strong throughout the country.
The national mean scaled score was 141.8 for the Multistate Bar Examination, an increase of about 1.3 points from the July 2023 mean of 140.5, according to the National Conference of Bar Examiners. According to the NCBE, 76% of July 2024 examinees were likely taking the exam for the first time, and nearly 50,000 people took the July 2024 test, up about 8% over a year earlier.
The expectations were high for the class of 2024. In 2021, the year that this class entered law school, applications increased by 13% compared to the previous year 2020.
When more aspiring lawyers apply, the more selective the law schools can be, said Rosemary Reshetar, the NCBE’s assessment and research director, in a press release. The same class’s average LSAT score was 1.27 points higher than the year before, according to the Law School Admission Council.
As a result, the increases in bar pass rates were of no surprise.
“LSAT scores are generally considered good predictors of bar exam scores,” Reshetar added.
New York, the jurisdiction that tests the most examinees, experienced a 69% pass rate, up 3 percentage points over July 2023’s 66% pass rate, according to the New York State Board of Law Examiners.
In California, which tests the second-largest number of examinees, 53.8% passed, up from 51.5% in July 2023 and 52.4% in July 2022, according to the State Bar of California.
In February, California will break away from the NCBE’s exam with its next administration of the bar, when it will move to a new Kaplan North America-developed exam that allows students to take the exam remotely, as well as at in-person test centers. That makes it the first jurisdiction to formally shun the NCBE’s NextGen test, set to roll out in July 2026.
To be in compliance with the ABA’s Standard 316, law schools need each graduating class to have a bar passage rate of at least 75% within two years of graduation.
Among other jurisdictions with a high number of examinees, Texas’ pass rate increased 4 percentage points to 75% from 71% last year; Illinois’ increased 2 percentage points to 72% from 70%; and Florida’s increased 4 percentage points to 65% from 61%.
Each state sets its own passing scores for the Uniform Bar Examination. In 2023, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Pennsylvania and Utah each lowered cut scores. Of those, only Utah experienced a decrease in its pass rate this July, decreasing 4 percentage points to 88% from 92% in July 2023.
Meanwhile, nine other states had decreases this year: Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.
Wyoming’s pass rate decreased the most—15 percentage points—sinking to 65% from 80% a year earlier. However, the jurisdiction only tested 52 examinees in July 2024.
Meanwhile, South Dakota and Georgia matched their pass rates of 2023, 74% and 70%, respectively.
