Passing rate on bar exam rises with first two-day test

Nearly half of the aspiring California lawyers who took the July bar exam passed, the best performance on the summer test in four years.

The improved success rate came on the first two-day, rather than three-day, test and one year after the overall passage rate was 43 percent, a 32-year low.

The State Bar’s Friday evening announcement of this year’s 49.6 percent success rate follows the state Supreme Court’s decision this fall to maintain the second highest standard for passing in the nation. Law school deans and others had called for the standard to be brought more in line with other states.

Roughly 70 percent of first-time takers from American Bar Association-accredited schools passed the July test, up from 62 percent a year ago.

First-time takers from schools accredited only by the state also saw improved results, as one third passed, compared to 21 percent last year.

The shift to a two-day test seemed to generate additional interest from exam takers. The bar reported that 8,545 applicants completed the test, an increase of more than 10 percent from a year ago and the most takers in four years.

Derek T. Muller, a professor at Pepperdine University School of Law, said the higher pass rate could be in part a result of steps schools took to combat declining performance.

“If schools adjusted their admission practices and academic policies in response, we might see the worst behind us,” Muller said. “The hope is schools and test takers don’t get complacent.”

Stephen C. Ferruolo, dean at University of San Diego School of Law, said he was pleased to see the first-time success rate for graduates of ABA schools increase. But the dean highlighted that 86 percent of first-time takers from ABA schools passed the New York exam, which has a much lower passing standard.

The 16-point gap between that result and the 70 percent first-time rate in California was “much too large,” Ferruolo said. “If the bar is a test of minimum competence, why should minimum competence be set so much higher here than other states?”

The overall pass rate in New York this July was 68 percent.

Muller said he expected the disparity in results between California and other large states would be an important element of future discussions about the passing score.

As has been typical, California bar takers outperformed the national average on the multiple-choice section of the test. The California mean on that portion was 1432, compared to the national mean of 1417.

With the shift to a two-day test in this state, the multiple choice section was given the same weight as the written portion. Previously, the multiple choice portion made up of 35 percent of a test taker’s score.

State Bar Executive Director Leah Wilson said the agency was happy to see the improved pass rate.

“We look forward to studying the factors that may have resulted in the increase,” Wilson said in a statement.

The first-time taker pass rate for out-of-state ABA schools was 67 percent. Meanwhile, the first-time pass rate for graduates of unaccredited law schools registered with the bar ranged from 25 percent to 29 percent, depending on the type of school.

The overall first-time taker success rate was 62 percent, compared to 28 percent for repeat takers.