New bar passage stats show several law schools below ABA cutoff
Western Michigan University’s Thomas M. Cooley Law School had the lowest two-year bar passage rate for 2021 graduates among ABA-accredited law schools, according to data released Monday by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. (Image from Shutterstock)
Western Michigan University’s Thomas M. Cooley Law School had the lowest two-year bar passage rate for 2021 graduates among ABA-accredited law schools, according to data released Monday by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.
Cooley’s two-year bar passage rate for 2021 law grads was 55.87%, according to data (available here) on the ultimate two-year bar passage rate.
Overall, 90.40% of 2021 graduates who sat for a bar exam passed it within two years of graduation, which is slightly lower than the 91.85% two-year bar pass rate for 2020 graduates, according to a press release. The data shows 95.41% of 2021 graduates sat for a bar exam, and schools were able to obtain bar passage information from 98.49% of 2021 graduates. The data is for ABA-accredited law schools.
Standard 316 of the ABA Standards and Rules of Procedures for Approval of Law Schools requires at least 75% of a law school’s graduates in a calendar year who sit for the bar examination to pass within two years. However, schools found to fall below that standard can dispute the data. If the data is accurate, schools have two years to demonstrate that they have returned to compliance, and they can receive an extension of the two year period by demonstrating good cause, according to 2019 guidance.
Cooley received an extension in 2022 according to previous reporting by the ABA Journal. Cooley Law dean and president James McGrath did not immediately respond to the ABA Journal’s questions about the new figure submitted through a school spokesperson.
In addition to Cooley, these law schools fell below a 75% two-year ultimate bar pass rate for 2021 law graduates:
• University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, with a 57.14% two-year pass rate
• Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law, with a 63.33% two-year pass rate
• Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Law, with a 65.84% two-year pass rate
• Western State College of Law, with a 68.42% two-year pass rate
• Southern University Law Center, with a 72.15% two-year pass rate
Cooley, Inter American University and the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico were among six law schools that fell below a two-year bar pass rates for the class of 2020, the ABA Journal reported last year.
Golden Gate University School of Law also fell below the ultimate standard for 2020 law grads and has since announced plans to close.
The ABA Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar also reported on bar pass rates by race and ethnicity. The two-year bar pass rate for 2021 law grads was 93% for white grads, 78% for Black grads, 86% for Hispanic grads, 90% for Asian grads, 82% for Native American grads, 66% for Hawaiian grads, and 91% for U.S. nonresidents.
