Stanford posts highest bar exam pass rate among top California law schools

Graduates of Stanford Law School who took the California bar exam for the first time in July achieved a 96 percent passage rate, besting their peers from the other top schools in the state.

It marked the third straight year Stanford had the highest first-time passage rate on the July exam among American Bar Association-accredited schools in California, according to data the State Bar recently provided to law schools.

The average first-time passage rate for ABA schools in the state rose to 70 percent, up from 62 percent last year.

The overall passage rate on the first two-day, rather than three-day, exam was 49.6 percent. That was an increase from the 43 percent pass rate on the July 2016 exam, which was a 32-year low.

Here are the first-time passage rates on the July 2017 exam for all ABA Schools in the state, according to data from the bar:

• Stanford Law School, 96 percent

• UC Berkeley School of Law, 89 percent

• USC Gould School of Law, 88 percent

• UCLA School of Law, 88 percent

• UC Irvine School of Law, 83 percent

• UC Davis School of Law, 79 percent

• Santa Clara University School of Law, 79 percent

• University of San Diego School of Law, 78 percent

• Loyola Law School, 73 percent

• Pepperdine University School of Law, 65 percent

• California Western School of Law, 65 percent

• Chapman University School of Law, 64 percent

• McGeorge School of Law, 62 percent

• UC Hastings College of the Law, 61 percent

• Southwestern Law School, 57 percent

• Western State College of Law, 56 percent

• University of San Francisco School of Law, 54 percent

• Golden Gate University School of Law, 51 percent

• University of La Verne College of Law, 41 percent

• Whittier Law School, 38 percent

• Thomas Jefferson School of Law, 30 percent