July 2016 California Bar Exam Results: Nine Law Schools (Including UC-Hastings) Are At Risk Of Failing ABA's Proposed New Bar Passage Accreditation Standard

The California State Bar has released school by school data on the July 2016 California Bar Exam.  Here are the results for first time test takers for the 21 California ABA-approved law schools, along with each school's U.S. News ranking (California and overall):

Bar Pass Rank (Rate)	School	US News Rank CA (Overall)
1 (91%)	Stanford	1 (2)
2 (88%)	USC	4 (19)
3 (84%)	UC-Berkeley	2 (8)
4 (82%)	UCLA	3 (17)
5 (81%)	UC-Irvine	5 (28)
6 (72%)	UC-Davis	6 (30)
6 (72%)	Loyola-L.A.	8 (65)
8 (71%)	San Diego	10 (74)
9 (70%)	Pepperdine	8 (65)
10 (66%)	Santa Clara	11 (129)
62%	Statewide Ave. (CA ABA-Approved)
11 (61%)	McGeorge	13 (144)
11 (61%)	Cal-Western	Tier 2
13 (57%)	Chapman	12 (136)
14 (51%)	UC-Hastings	7 (50)
15 (42%)	Western State	Tier 2
16 (38%)	Southwestern	Tier 2
17 (36%)	San Francisco	Tier 2
18 (31%)	Golden Gate	Tier 2
18 (31%)	La Verne	Tier 2
18 (31%)	T. Jefferson	Tier 2
21 (22%)	Whittier	Tier 2

The Recorder, By the Numbers: How California Law Schools Fared on the Bar Exam:

Just five of 21 California law schools accredited by the American Bar Association had at least 75 percent of their graduates pass the July bar exam, a proposed new benchmark rate that in coming years could spell trouble for some institutions.

Facing the loss of its authority to accredit law schools, the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar voted in October to tighten bar passage requirements. If the ABA’s House of Delegates approves the new rules at its February meeting, at least 75 percent of a school’s alumni must pass the bar within two years of graduation, instead of the current five-year window. The requirement could start as early as the July 2017 exam.

The overall pass rate for this year’s summer exam was 43 percent, the lowest figure for a July sitting in 32 years. First-time test-takers from ABA-accredited schools did better as a group—62 percent passed. But, with success rates in all groups slipping in recent years, questions abound about how to raise scores to meet the 75 percent threshold. ...

First-time and repeat test-takers from UC-Irvine, UCLA, Stanford, University of Southern California and UC-Berkeley met or passed the 75 percent rate, according to records provided by the State Bar to The Recorder. Seven other schools California-Western, Loyola-L.A., McGeorge, Pepperdine, San Diego, Santa Clara, UC-Davis] had first-time pass rates that ranged from 61 percent to 72 percent, suggesting that their graduates may be able to meet the ABA’s proposed pass threshold within two years.

The nine remaining schools [Chapman, Golden Gate, La Verne, San Francisco, Southwestern, Thomas Jefferson, UC-Hastings, Western State, Whittier] had pass rates below 57 percent. At some campuses [Golden Gate, La Verne, Thomas Jefferson, Whittier], less than one-third of exam-takers passed the bar.

David Faigman, acting chancellor and dean of UC-Hastings College of the Law, said in an email to campus officials and students that the school’s first-time pass rate—51 percent—was “horrific.” ... “As an aside, let me express my utter incredulity with the conduct of the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California,” Faigman wrote, noting that California’s bar pass rate for first-time takers was 21 percentage points below New York’s. “The California Bar is effectively saying that 38 percent of graduates from ABA accredited law schools are not qualified to practice law. This is outrageous and constitutes unconscionable conduct on the part of a trade association that masquerades as a state agency.”

Some scholars have questioned whether the dropping test scores reflect other forces in the market: Are less-capable students attending law school now more than ever as would-be students, shunning the burden of crippling academic debt, pursue other career opportunities? ...

Robert Anderson, an associate professor at Pepperdine University who has studied bar exam issues, noted in a recent blog post that California has the second highest score requirement in the nation for the multistate bar exam. If those who sat for the July exam in California had instead taken the test in New York, 70 percent would have passed based on that state’s scoring, Anderson said.

Update: Above the Law calculated the changes in the school by school results from the July 2015 bar exam:

Only five law schools saw an increase in their pass rate percentage:

1. Stanford (+2.2%)
2. Pepperdine, USC (+1.3%)
4. UC-Irvine (+1.2%)
5. California-Western (+1.1%)

Sixteen law schools suffered a decrease in their pass rate percentage:

1. La Verne (-22.3)
2. Thomas Jefferson (-16.7%)
3. UC-Hastings (-16.5%)
4. Whittier (-15.2%)
5. Western State (-14.6%)
6. Chapman (-14.2)
7. Southwestern (-12.6%)
8. San Francisco (-11.4%)
9. McGeorge (-8.9%)
10. Golden Gate (-8.3)
11. Loyola-L.A. (-4.6%)
12. UCLA (-3.4%)
13. Santa Clara (-3.3%)
14. UC-Davis (-2.3%)
15. San Diego (-1.0%)
16. UC-Berkeley (-0.8%)

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• July 2015 Results
• July 2014 Results
• July 2013 Results
• July 2012 Results
• July 2011 Results
• July 2010 Results
• July 2009 Results
• July 2008 Results