Overall number of bar exam passers down in July 2019; Michigan Law and Wayne Law show slight increases

By Lee Dryden
BridgeTower Media Newswires

July 2019 Michigan bar exam statistics show the overall number of passers is down from a year ago, while two law schools saw slight improvement.

Overall, 61 percent of total applicants — 394 of 641— passed the exam, compared with 67 percent — 457 of 678 — in July 2018, according to Board of Law Examiners statistics for Michigan and out-of-state law schools after appeals.

Results from the July 2019 exam are as follows:

The University of Michigan Law School had the top passing percentage in the state with 22 of its 23 exam takers — 96 percent — earning a successful mark. That is up from July 2018 when 33 of 36 — 92 percent — passed.

In second place as the only other Michigan school with rising scores was Wayne State University Law School with 76 percent — 88 of 116 — passing. That’s a 4 percent increase from July 2018 when 94 of 131 graduates — 72 percent — made the grade.

Next is Michigan State University College of Law with 75 percent — 87 of 116 — passing. That result is down 9 percent from July 2018 when 118 of 141 graduates — 84 percent — passed.

Fifty-three percent of University of Detroit Mercy School of Law applicants — or 52 of 98 — passed the July 2019 exam compared with 60 percent or 44 of 73 in July 2018.

Western Michigan University Cooley Law School saw 28 percent of graduates — 40 of 144 —pass the exam. A year earlier, 38 percent passed from WMU-Cooley — 57 of 149 applicants.

Overall, the BLE reported that 363 of 511 first-time test takers — or 71 percent — received a passing mark in July 2019, down from the July 2018 total of 76 percent or 414 of 546.

As for those taking the exam again, 24 percent passed in July 2019 — or 31 of 130 — which is down from July 2018 with 43 of 132 — or 33 percent — passing.

Michigan’s bar exam consists of the multiple-choice Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, and the essay questions prepared by — or under the supervision of — the Board of Law Examiners or by law professors selected by the board.