A new report released by the American Bar Association provides national “ultimate” and first-time percentage bar pass rates based on race, ethnicity and gender.
The data was reported to the ABA by the 196 law schools accepting new students in their ABA Standard 509 questionnaire, which covers about a dozen categories including employment and bar passage outcomes among other areas.
Under 2019 revisions to the bar passage rule known as Standard 316, ABA-approved law schools must have 75 percent of their graduates who take the bar examination pass within two years of graduation or face the potential of being found out of compliance.
The section maintains both percentage pass rates for first-time takers and the two-year aggregate figure, known as the “ultimate” pass rate.
“This is the second consecutive year that the section is releasing this data in response to concerns about the lack of national data on bar passage by members of different racial and ethnic groups,” said Bill Adams, ABA managing director of accreditation and legal education. “We promised to collect and publish such aggregate data and consider whether the requirements of Standard 316 needed to be reviewed in light of what we collected.
“We will continue to evaluate the annual data and consider any changes as appropriate.”
The council, or governing board of the section, is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the national accreditor of law schools.
In that capacity, the council serves as an independent arm of the ABA.
