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Paul L. Caron
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Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Preview Of The 2024-25 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Ultimate Bar Passage

Update: 

Following up on my previous posts: 

The current 2023-24 methodology is: 

Ultimate bar passage rate (0.07 – new indicator): While passing the bar on the first try is optimal, passing eventually is critical. Underscoring this, the ABA has an accreditation standard that at least 75% of a law school’s test-taking graduates must pass a bar exam within two years of earning a diploma.

With that in mind, the ultimate bar passage ranking factor measures the percentage of each law school's 2019 graduates who sat for a bar exam and passed it within two years of graduation, including diploma privilege graduates.

Both the first-time bar passage and ultimate bar passage indicators were used to determine if a particular law school is offering a rigorous program of legal education to students. The first-time bar passage indicator was assigned greater weight because of the greater granularity of its data and its wider variance of outcomes.

Below are two 2024-25 ultimate 2-year bar passage rankings of law schools' 2020 graduates. The first is a simple ranking using the pass rate. The second uses Z-scores to better approximate the U.S. News methodology.

Rank School  Pass Rate Pass Rate (Including Diploma Privilege)
1 BYU 100.00% 100.00%
1 Chicago 100.00% 100.00%
1 Stanford 100.00% 100.00%
1 Utah 100.00% 100.00%
5 Louisiana State 99.37% 99.64%
6 Duke 99.52% 99.53%
7 Minnesota 99.48% 99.48%
8 UC-Berkeley 99.36% 99.38%
9 Virginia 99.35% 99.36%
10 Wisconsin 75.00% 99.32%
11 Baylor 99.23% 99.24%
12 Alabama 99.21% 99.21%
13 Michigan 99.20% 99.20%
14 Texas A&M 99.19% 99.19%
15 NYU 99.14% 99.15%
16 Texas 99.03% 99.04%
17 UCLA 99.00% 99.01%
18 Harvard 99.01% 99.01%
19 Yale 98.96% 98.96%
20 Georgia 98.85% 98.86%
21 Boston Univ. 98.64% 98.65%
22 Regent 98.53% 98.53%
23 Penn 98.34% 98.37%
24 USC 98.34% 98.35%
25 Marquette 57.14% 98.22%
26 Washington Univ. 98.19% 98.21%
27 Willamette 91.67% 98.08%
28 William & Mary 97.71% 97.73%
29 Florida Int'l 97.67% 97.67%
30 Colorado 97.65% 97.66%
31 Oregon 93.02% 97.54%
32 Missouri-Columbia 97.37% 97.44%
33 Cornell 97.41% 97.42%
34 Fordham 97.33% 97.33%
35 Samford 97.20% 97.20%
36 Univ. of Washington 90.70% 97.18%
37 Northwestern 97.11% 97.11%
38 Wake Forest 97.10% 97.10%
39 Boston College 97.07% 97.10%
40 Dayton 97.01% 97.06%
40 Montana 96.92% 97.06%
42 New Hampshire 97.01% 97.01%
42 Ohio State 97.00% 97.01%
44 George Mason 96.88% 96.97%
45 North Carolina 96.86% 96.89%
46 Northeastern 96.83% 96.88%
47 St. Louis 96.79% 96.82%
48 Vanderbilt 96.63% 96.63%
49 Texas Tech 96.61% 96.61%
50 New Mexico 96.46% 96.46%

Rank School  Pass Rate Pass Rate (Including Diploma Privilege)
51 Liberty 96.30% 96.36%
52 Richmond 96.23% 96.33%
53 Columbia 96.22% 96.22%
54 Loyola-L.A. 96.19% 96.19%
55 George Washington 95.96% 96.06%
56 St. John's 95.95% 95.95%
57 Kansas 95.92% 95.92%
58 Indiana (Maurer) 95.71% 95.83%
59 Illinois 95.71% 95.74%
60 Connecticut 95.73% 95.73%
61 Oklahoma 95.59% 95.68%
61 Wayne State 95.62% 95.68%
63 Louisville 95.58% 95.65%
64 Campbell 95.59% 95.59%
64 Maine 95.59% 95.59%
64 UC-Irvine 95.52% 95.59%
67 Cardozo 95.54% 95.56%
68 Georgetown 95.45% 95.56%
69 Notre Dame 95.38% 95.43%
70 Lewis & Clark 89.06% 95.42%
71 SMU 95.33% 95.33%
72 Seattle 85.71% 95.32%
73 Southwestern 95.24% 95.24%
74 Florida 95.21% 95.21%
75 Gonzaga 89.13% 95.15%
76 Wyoming 95.08% 95.08%
77 Belmont 94.95% 94.95%
78 Washington & Lee 94.70% 94.70%
79 Penn State-Univ. Park 94.64% 94.69%
80 Cincinnati 94.68% 94.68%
81 Arkansas-Fayetteville 94.59% 94.59%
82 Case Western 94.34% 94.39%
83 South Carolina 94.39% 94.39%
84 Catholic 94.19% 94.38%
85 Penn State-Dickinson 94.12% 94.12%
86 Pittsburgh 94.03% 94.03%
87 Florida State 93.94% 93.98%
88 Tennessee 93.97% 93.97%
89 Iowa 93.89% 93.89%
90 Nebraska 93.69% 93.75%
91 Loyola-Chicago 93.69% 93.72%
92 North Dakota 93.65% 93.65%
93 Temple 93.27% 93.27%
94 Maryland 93.14% 93.18%
95 Villanova 93.17% 93.17%
96 Drexel 93.08% 93.08%
97 Northern Illinois 93.02% 93.02%
98 Tulsa 93.00% 93.00%
99 Albany 92.67% 92.67%
100 Creighton 92.55% 92.55%
101 San Diego 92.41% 92.51%
102 Kentucky 92.45% 92.45%
103 Missouri-Kansas City 92.37% 92.37%
104 Idaho 91.67% 92.31%
105 Arizona State 92.06% 92.06%
106 Pacific 91.87% 91.94%
107 Chapman 91.72% 91.72%
108 UC-San Francisco 91.58% 91.67%
109 Quinnipiac 91.60% 91.60%
110 Toledo 91.57% 91.57%
111 SUNY-Buffalo 91.55% 91.55%
112 Mercer 91.53% 91.53%
113 Drake 91.49% 91.49%
114 Capital 91.35% 91.35%
115 Indiana (McKinney) 91.34% 91.34%
116 Emory 91.13% 91.13%
117 UC-Davis 90.97% 90.97%
118 Syracuse 90.97% 90.97%
119 Pepperdine 90.77% 90.77%
120 Georgia State 90.66% 90.66%
121 Arkansas-Little Rock 90.65% 90.65%
122 Duquesne 90.55% 90.63%
123 Brooklyn 90.25% 90.31%
124 West Virginia 90.20% 90.20%
125 Memphis 90.12% 90.12%
126 North Carolina Central 89.91% 90.00%
127 Washburn 89.89% 89.89%
128 Faulkner 89.80% 89.80%
128 Rutgers 89.80% 89.80%
130 New York Law School 89.77% 89.77%
131 Southern 84.40% 89.70%
132 American 89.57% 89.57%
133 Suffolk 89.40% 89.40%
134 Oklahoma City 89.34% 89.34%
135 UNLV 89.15% 89.23%
136 Mississippi 88.68% 88.89%
136 Santa Clara 88.89% 88.89%
138 Chicago-Kent 88.73% 88.73%
139 Denver 88.44% 88.50%
140 Ave Maria 88.41% 88.41%
141 South Texas 88.32% 88.36%
142 Loyola-New Orleans 64.71% 88.31%
143 Michigan State 88.26% 88.26%
144 Tulane 82.48% 88.24%
145 Cleveland State 88.17% 88.17%
146 Seton Hall 88.13% 88.13%
147 New England 87.92% 87.92%
148 Widener (PA) 87.88% 87.88%
149 DePaul 87.68% 87.74%
150 San Francisco 87.50% 87.72%
151 Detroit Mercy 87.63% 87.63%
152 Northern Kentucky 87.38% 87.38%
153 Pace 87.06% 87.13%
154 Stetson 87.03% 87.03%
155 St. Mary's 86.89% 86.96%
156 St. Thomas (MN) 86.82% 86.82%
157 South Dakota 86.79% 86.79%
158 Elon 86.78% 86.78%
159 Miami 86.24% 86.24%
160 Houston 86.22% 86.22%
161 Mitchell | Hamline 85.38% 85.53%
162 Hofstra 85.41% 85.41%
163 Baltimore 85.03% 85.03%
164 Lincoln Memorial 84.93% 84.93%
165 Akron 84.83% 84.83%
166 Roger Williams 84.78% 84.78%
167 Widener (DE) 84.56% 84.56%
168 CUNY 84.51% 84.51%
169 Hawaii 84.34% 84.34%
170 Massachusetts 83.93% 84.21%
171 Illinois-Chicago 84.03% 84.03%
172 Cal-Western 83.84% 83.84%
173 Mississippi College 82.18% 83.64%
174 University of Arizona 83.33% 83.33%
174 Western New England 83.13% 83.33%
176 North Texas 83.13% 83.13%
177 Nova 82.68% 82.68%
178 Howard 82.00% 82.18%
179 Ohio Northern 81.25% 81.63%
180 St. Thomas (FL) 80.67% 80.79%
181 District of Columbia 80.60% 80.60%
182 Barry 79.53% 79.53%
183 Touro 79.07% 79.07%
184 Florida A&M 78.57% 78.57%
185 Charleston 78.50% 78.50%
186 John Marshall (GA) 78.49% 78.49%
187 Vermont 76.61% 77.69%
188 Western State 77.01% 77.01%
189 Texas Southern 75.00% 75.12%
190 Southern Illinois 75.00% 75.00%
191 Pontifical Catholic (PR) 72.63% 72.63%
192 Appalachian 71.43% 71.43%
192 Puerto Rico 71.43% 71.43%
194 Golden Gate 62.71% 62.71%
195 Western Michigan 61.00% 61.00%
196 Inter-American (PR) 58.58% 58.58%

Z-Score Ranking:

Law School Pass Rate (Including Diploma Privilege) Z-Score Z-Score Rank
BYU 100.00% 1.21 1
Chicago 100.00% 1.21 1
Stanford 100.00% 1.21 1
Utah 100.00% 1.21 1
Louisiana State 99.64% 1.16 5
Duke 99.53% 1.14 6
Minnesota 99.48% 1.14 7
UC-Berkeley 99.38% 1.12 8
Virginia 99.36% 1.12 9
Wisconsin 99.32% 1.11 10
Baylor 99.24% 1.10 11
Alabama 99.21% 1.10 12
Michigan 99.20% 1.10 13
Texas A&M 99.19% 1.10 14
NYU 99.15% 1.09 15
Texas 99.04% 1.08 16
UCLA 99.01% 1.07 17
Harvard 99.01% 1.07 18
Yale 98.96% 1.07 19
Georgia 98.86% 1.05 20
Boston Univ. 98.65% 1.02 21
Regent 98.53% 1.01 22
Penn 98.37% 0.98 23
USC 98.35% 0.98 24
Marquette 98.22% 0.96 25
Washington Univ. 98.21% 0.96 26
Willamette 98.08% 0.94 27
William & Mary 97.73% 0.90 28
Florida Int'l 97.67% 0.89 29
Colorado 97.66% 0.89 30
Oregon 97.54% 0.87 31
Missouri-Columbia 97.44% 0.86 32
Cornell 97.42% 0.85 33
Fordham 97.33% 0.84 34
Samford 97.20% 0.82 35
University of Washington 97.18% 0.82 36
Northwestern 97.11% 0.81 37
Wake Forest 97.10% 0.81 38
Boston College 97.10% 0.81 39
Dayton 97.06% 0.80 40
Montana 97.06% 0.80 40
New Hampshire 97.01% 0.80 42
Ohio State 97.01% 0.80 42
George Mason 96.97% 0.79 44
North Carolina 96.89% 0.78 45
Northeastern 96.88% 0.78 46
St. Louis 96.82% 0.77 47
Vanderbilt 96.63% 0.75 48
Texas Tech 96.61% 0.74 49
New Mexico 96.46% 0.72 50
Liberty 96.36% 0.71 51
Richmond 96.33% 0.70 52
Columbia 96.22% 0.69 53
Loyola-L.A. 96.19% 0.68 54
George Washington 96.06% 0.67 55
St. John's 95.95% 0.65 56
Kansas 95.92% 0.65 57
Indiana (Maurer) 95.83% 0.64 58
Illinois 95.74% 0.62 59
Connecticut 95.73% 0.62 60
Oklahoma 95.68% 0.62 61
Wayne State 95.68% 0.62 61
Louisville 95.65% 0.61 63
UC-Irvine 95.59% 0.60 64
Campbell 95.59% 0.60 64
Maine 95.59% 0.60 64
Cardozo 95.56% 0.60 67
Georgetown 95.56% 0.60 68
Notre Dame 95.43% 0.58 69
Lewis & Clark 95.42% 0.58 70
SMU 95.33% 0.57 71
Seattle 95.32% 0.57 72
Southwestern 95.24% 0.55 73
Florida 95.21% 0.55 74
Gonzaga 95.15% 0.54 75
Wyoming 95.08% 0.53 76
Belmont 94.95% 0.51 77
Washington & Lee 94.70% 0.48 78
Penn State-Univ. Park 94.69% 0.48 79
Cincinnati 94.68% 0.48 80
Arkansas-Fayetteville 94.59% 0.47 81
Case Western 94.39% 0.44 82
South Carolina 94.39% 0.44 83
Catholic 94.38% 0.44 84
Penn State-Dickinson 94.12% 0.40 85
Pittsburgh 94.03% 0.39 86
Florida State 93.98% 0.38 87
Tennessee 93.97% 0.38 88
Iowa 93.89% 0.37 89
Nebraska 93.75% 0.35 90
Loyola-Chicago 93.72% 0.35 91
North Dakota 93.65% 0.34 92
Temple 93.27% 0.28 93
Maryland 93.18% 0.27 94
Villanova 93.17% 0.27 95
Drexel 93.08% 0.26 96
Northern Illinois 93.02% 0.25 97
Tulsa 93.00% 0.25 98
Albany 92.67% 0.20 99
Creighton 92.55% 0.18 100
San Diego 92.51% 0.18 101
Kentucky 92.45% 0.17 102
Missouri-Kansas City 92.37% 0.16 103
Idaho 92.31% 0.15 104
Arizona State 92.06% 0.12 105
Pacific 91.94% 0.10 106
Chapman 91.72% 0.07 107
UC-San Francisco 91.67% 0.06 108
Quinnipiac 91.60% 0.05 109
Toledo 91.57% 0.05 110
SUNY-Buffalo 91.55% 0.05 111
Mercer 91.53% 0.04 112
Drake 91.49% 0.04 113
Capital 91.35% 0.02 114
Indiana (McKinney) 91.34% 0.02 115
Emory 91.13% -0.01 116
UC-Davis 90.97% -0.03 117
Syracuse 90.97% -0.03 118
Pepperdine 90.77% -0.06 119
Georgia State 90.66% -0.08 120
Arkansas-Little Rock 90.65% -0.08 121
Duquesne 90.63% -0.08 122
Brooklyn 90.31% -0.12 123
West Virginia 90.20% -0.14 124
Memphis 90.12% -0.15 125
North Carolina Central 90.00% -0.17 126
Washburn 89.89% -0.18 127
Faulkner 89.80% -0.19 128
Rutgers 89.80% -0.19 128
New York Law School 89.77% -0.20 130
Southern 89.70% -0.21 131
American 89.57% -0.23 132
Suffolk 89.40% -0.25 133
Oklahoma City 89.34% -0.26 134
UNLV 89.23% -0.27 135
Mississippi 88.89% -0.32 136
Santa Clara 88.89% -0.32 136
Chicago-Kent 88.73% -0.34 138
Denver 88.50% -0.37 139
Ave Maria 88.41% -0.39 140
South Texas 88.36% -0.39 141
Loyola-New Orleans 88.31% -0.40 142
Michigan State 88.26% -0.40 143
Tulane 88.24% -0.41 144
Cleveland State 88.17% -0.42 145
Seton Hall 88.13% -0.42 146
New England 87.92% -0.45 147
Widener (PA) 87.88% -0.46 148
DePaul 87.74% -0.48 149
San Francisco 87.72% -0.48 150
Detroit Mercy 87.63% -0.49 151
Northern Kentucky 87.38% -0.53 152
Pace 87.13% -0.56 153
Stetson 87.03% -0.57 154
St. Mary's 86.96% -0.58 155
St. Thomas (MN) 86.82% -0.60 156
South Dakota 86.79% -0.61 157
Elon 86.78% -0.61 158
Miami 86.24% -0.68 159
Houston 86.22% -0.69 160
Mitchell | Hamline 85.53% -0.78 161
Hofstra 85.41% -0.80 162
Baltimore 85.03% -0.85 163
Lincoln Memorial 84.93% -0.86 164
Akron 84.83% -0.88 165
Roger Williams 84.78% -0.88 166
Widener (DE) 84.56% -0.91 167
CUNY 84.51% -0.92 168
Hawaii 84.34% -0.94 169
Massachusetts 84.21% -0.96 170
Illinois-Chicago 84.03% -0.99 171
Cal-Western 83.84% -1.01 172
Mississippi College 83.64% -1.04 173
University of Arizona 83.33% -1.08 174
Western New England 83.33% -1.08 174
North Texas 83.13% -1.11 176
Nova 82.68% -1.17 177
Howard 82.18% -1.24 178
Ohio Northern 81.63% -1.32 179
St. Thomas (FL) 80.79% -1.43 180
District of Columbia 80.60% -1.46 181
Barry 79.53% -1.60 182
Touro 79.07% -1.67 183
Florida A&M 78.57% -1.74 184
Charleston 78.50% -1.75 185
John Marshall (GA) 78.49% -1.75 186
Vermont 77.69% -1.86 187
Western State 77.01% -1.95 188
Texas Southern 75.12% -2.21 189
Southern Illinois 75.00% -2.23 190
Pontifical Catholic (PR) 72.63% -2.55 191
Appalachian 71.43% -2.72 192
Puerto Rico 71.43% -2.72 192
Golden Gate 62.71% -3.92 194
Cooley 61.00% -4.15 195
Inter-American (PR) 58.58% -4.48 196

For the Z-scores used to calculate this ranking, see here.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2024/03/preview-2024-25-us-news-law-school-rankings-ultimate-bar-passage.html

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