PASSING THE BAR EXAM
Passing the Bar exam, the last step to becoming a lawyer, is not easy. Of the 7,515 people who took the California State Bar Exam last July, only 3,780--50.3%--passed. Of the 4,913 people taking the exam for the first time, 3,212--65.4%--passed. (The overall pass percentage traditionally is lower than for first-timers because the group of applicants includes people who repeatedly fail the exam.) Among the statistics compiled by the State Bar of California are comparative pass-fail rates for graduates of the state’s various law schools. The statistics below are based on the July exam, with schools ranked by the highest percentage of first-timers that passed. Schools listed in bold are in Los Angeles County. Rankings of correspondence schools are not included.
First Timers School No. Taking Exam % Pass ACCREDITED, ABA-APPROVED SCHOOLS Hastings, UC San Francisco 397 87.2% Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley 222 86.0% Stanford University 79 84.8% UCLA 246 79.7% UC Davis 174 79.3% USC 170 76.5% Loyola University, Los Angeles 314 71.7% U. of the Pacific (McGeorge), Sacramento 283 71.4% University of San Diego 194 67.5% University of San Francisco 159 65.4% Southwestern University, Los Angeles 176 64.8% University of Santa Clara 213 63.8% Pepperdine University, Malibu 132 62.1% California Western, San Diego 46 54.3% Golden Gate Univ., San Francisco 97 52.6% Whittier University 66 39.4% ACCREDITED, NON ABA-APPROVED SCHOOLS San Joaquin College, Fresno 28 57.1% Humphrey’s College, Stockton 19 52.6% Glendale University 12 50.0% San Francisco Law School 28 50.0% Western State Univ., San Diego 55 47.3% San Fernando Valley College, Sepulveda 23 43.5% National University, San Diego 14 42.9% Lincoln University, Sacramento 33 39.4% Western State Univ., Fullerton 149 36.2% Empire College, Santa Rosa 26 34.6% Monterey College 26 34.6% John F. Kennedy Univ., Walnut Creek 20 30.0% La Verne University 10 30.0% Santa Barbara College of Law 8 25.0% University of West Los Angeles 44 25.0% Ventura College 5 0.0% UNACCREDITED SCHOOLS California Northern Univ., Chico 7 71.4% Simon Greenleaf, Anaheim 3 66.7% Citrus Belt, Riverside 15 40.0% Lincoln University, San Francisco 6 33.3% Lincoln University, San Jose 12 33.3% Univ. of Northern California, Sacramento 26 26.9% American College, Anaheim 6 0.0% Central California College of Law, Fresno 6 0.0% Pacific Coast University, Los Angeles 1 0.0% Peninsula University, Mountain View 7 0.0% Peoples College, Los Angeles 2 0.0% Western Sierra, San Diego 1 0.0% Armstrong University, Berkeley - - Cabrillo Pacific, San Diego - - California College of Law, Los Angeles - - California College of Law, West Covina - - Charles Dederich, Badger - - Golden West University, West Los Angeles - - Irvine University - - Mid-Valley College, Van Nuys - - Newport University (Van Norman), Newport Beach - - South Bay University, Harbor City - - Valley University, North Hollywood - -
All Applicants School No. Taking Exam % Pass ACCREDITED, ABA-APPROVED SCHOOLS Hastings, UC San Francisco 473 77.2% Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley 236 81.8% Stanford University 86 81.4% UCLA 308 71.1% UC Davis 197 74.1% USC 202 69.3% Loyola University, Los Angeles 425 60.5% U. of the Pacific (McGeorge), Sacramento 327 66.7% University of San Diego 270 58.5% University of San Francisco 218 54.1% Southwestern University, Los Angeles 291 48.5% University of Santa Clara 293 55.3% Pepperdine University, Malibu 191 52.9% California Western, San Diego 111 36.0% Golden Gate Univ., San Francisco 174 41.4% Whittier University 142 29.6% ACCREDITED, NON ABA-APPROVED SCHOOLS San Joaquin College, Fresno 41 46.3% Humphrey’s College, Stockton 27 40.7% Glendale University 28 35.7% San Francisco Law School 59 33.9% Western State Univ., San Diego 166 27.7% San Fernando Valley College, Sepulveda 67 28.4% National University, San Diego 31 22.6% Lincoln University, Sacramento 49 34.7% Western State Univ., Fullerton 449 22.5% Empire College, Santa Rosa 46 34.8% Monterey College 35 37.1% John F. Kennedy Univ., Walnut Creek 51 17.6% La Verne University 43 18.6% Santa Barbara College of Law 22 18.2% University of West Los Angeles 125 12.0% Ventura College 29 10.3% UNACCREDITED SCHOOLS California Northern Univ., Chico 7 71.4% Simon Greenleaf, Anaheim 4 50.0% Citrus Belt, Riverside 29 24.1% Lincoln University, San Francisco 17 11.8% Lincoln University, San Jose 23 21.7% Univ. of Northern California, Sacramento 34 26.5% American College, Anaheim 51 2.0% Central California College of Law, Fresno 11 9.1% Pacific Coast University, Los Angeles 6 16.7% Peninsula University, Mountain View 15 0.0% Peoples College, Los Angeles 17 11.8% Western Sierra, San Diego 12 0.0% Armstrong University, Berkeley 8 0.0% Cabrillo Pacific, San Diego 1 0.0% California College of Law, Los Angeles 9 11.1% California College of Law, West Covina 2 0.0% Charles Dederich, Badger 1 0.0% Golden West University, West Los Angeles 5 20.0% Irvine University 3 33.3% Mid-Valley College, Van Nuys 3 33.3% Newport University (Van Norman), Newport Beach 3 0.0% South Bay University, Harbor City 3 0.0% Valley University, North Hollywood 3 0.0%
Source: State Bar of California