Passing the Bar Exam

Of the 7,057 people who took the California State Bar Exam last July, 59.0% passed and won the right to practice law. The pass rate was 73.8% among the 5,254 people taking the exam for the first time. The pass percentage traditionally is higher among first-timers than among the total group of applicants, which 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 California-accredited law schools. Shown below are results of

the July exam, with schools ranked according to the percentage of first-time applicants passing.

Also shown are the combined results for first-time applicants taking the 10 bar exams given over five years--from February, 1989, through July, 1993. Statewide, of 21,510 first-time bar applicants during that time, 15,993 or 74.35%--passed the test. Rankings of unaccredited and correspondence schools are not included. Schools listed in bold are in Los Angeles County.

STATE ACCREDITED, ABA-APPROVED SCHOOLS

FIRST-TIMERS JULY ’93

SCHOOL TAKING EXAM % PASS Stanford University 83 92.8% UC Davis 146 91.8% Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley 219 91.3% UCLA 245 88.2% USC 169 87.6% Loyola University, Los Angeles 339 87.3% Hastings, UC San Francisco 328 86.3% University of San Francisco 163 85.9% Univ. of the Pacific 287 85.7% (McGeorge), Sacramento University of Santa Clara 206 82.5% University of San Diego 212 80.7% Southwestern University, 265 78.1% Los Angeles Pepperdine University, Malibu 178 77.5% California Western, San Diego 110 76.4% Whittier College 120 75.0% Golden Gate Univ., San Francisco 162 69.1%

ALL APPLICANTS JULY ’93

SCHOOL TAKING EXAM % PASS Stanford University 86 91.9% UC Davis 151 88.7% Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley 228 88.2% UCLA 265 83.4% USC 178 83.7% Loyola University, Los Angeles 362 84.5% Hastings, UC San Francisco 366 78.4% University of San Francisco 173 83.2% Univ. of the Pacific 304 83.2% (McGeorge), Sacramento University of Santa Clara 244 74.2% University of San Diego 247 72.1% Southwestern University, 291 73.2% Los Angeles Pepperdine University, Malibu 189 73.0% California Western, San Diego 136 69.1% Whittier College 151 68.9% Golden Gate Univ., San Francisco 190 63.2%

FIRST-TIMERS ‘89-93

SCHOOL TAKING EXAM % PASSED Stanford University 501 87.22% UC Davis 741 89.74% Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley 1,189 89.90% UCLA 1,296 84.49% USC 902 85.92% Loyola University, Los Angeles 1,842 83.82% Hastings, UC San Francisco 1,858 82.07% University of San Francisco 900 76.33% Univ. of the Pacific 1,416 78.60% (McGeorge), Sacramento University of Santa Clara 1,219 75.14% University of San Diego 1,306 76.26% Southwestern University, 1,255 75.21% Los Angeles Pepperdine University, Malibu 891 81.03% California Western, San Diego 889 71.09% Whittier College 559 60.82% Golden Gate Univ., San Francisco 711 68.63%

ACCREDITED, NON ABA-APPROVED SCHOOLS

FIRST-TIMERS JULY ’93

SCHOOL TAKING EXAM % PASS Santa Barbara College of Law 9 88.9% La Verne University 13 69.2% California Northern Law School, 8 62.5 % Chico Lincoln Law School, Sacramento 33 57.6 % San Joaquin College, Fresno 56 57.1% Humphrey’s College, Stockton 13 53.8% University of La Verne at San Fernando, Sepulveda 36 52.8% Western State Univ., San Diego 98 52.0% Western State Univ., Fullerton 164 43.9% Ventura College 10 40.0% Monterey College 26 38.5% San Francisco Law School 31 35.5% John F. Kennedy Univ., 26 34.6% Walnut Creek New College, San Francisco 26 30.8% Univ. of West Los Angeles 41 29.3% National Univ., San Diego 30 26.7% Empire College, Santa Rosa 34 23.5% Glendale College of Law 22 18.2% Northrop Univ., Inglewood 0 0.0%

ALL APPLICANTS JULY ’93

SCHOOL TAKING EXAM % PASS Santa Barbara College of Law 14 64.3% La Verne University 19 47.4% California Northern Law School, 10 50.0% Chico Lincoln Law School, Sacramento 51 41.2% San Joaquin College, Fresno 62 51.6% Humphrey’s College, Stockton 20 35.0% University of La Verne at San Fernando, Sepulveda 55 38.2% Western State Univ., San Diego 157 37.6% Western State Univ., Fullerton 352 28.4% Ventura College 36 19.4% Monterey College 32 37.5% San Francisco Law School 48 25.0% John F. Kennedy Univ., 48 25.0% Walnut Creek New College, San Francisco 56 16.1% Univ. of West Los Angeles 102 21.6% National Univ., San Diego 58 20.7% Empire College, Santa Rosa 47 21.3% Glendale College of Law 29 20.7% Northrop Univ., Inglewood 15 0.0%

FIRST-TIMERS ‘89-93

SCHOOL TAKING EXAM % PASSED Santa Barbara College of Law 117 63.24% La Verne University 114 61.40% California Northern Law School, * * Chico Lincoln Law School, Sacramento 190 51.05% San Joaquin College, Fresno 160 72.50% Humphrey’s College, Stockton 65 40.00% University of La Verne at San Fernando, Sepulveda 205 52.19% Western State Univ., San Diego 483 56.72% Western State Univ., Fullerton 1,303 53.56% Ventura College 139 56.11% Monterey College 96 44.79% San Francisco Law School 145 41.37% John F. Kennedy Univ., 133 47.36% Walnut Creek New College, San Francisco 143 30.76% Univ. of West Los Angeles 310 41.93% National Univ., San Diego 212 36.32% Empire College, Santa Rosa 118 38.98% Glendale College of Law 80 51.25% Northrop Univ., Inglewood 22 04.54%

* School became California accredited in March, 1992.

SOURCE: State Bar of California

Compiled by Times Researcher TRACY THOMAS