New York bar exam pass rate highest since 2013
By Karen Sloan
Oct 24 (Reuters) -New York has joined the growing number of states posting a higher pass rate on the July 2024 bar exam, with 69% of examinees passing its attorney licensing exam.
That figure represents New York’s highest overall pass rate since 2013 and a 3 percentage point increase over 2023’s pass rate of 66%, the New York Board of Law Examiners said on Wednesday. New York is the largest bar exam jurisdiction in the country, with more than 10,000 people sitting for its July test.
Just six states have yet to release pass rates for the most recent bar exam — including California and Ohio — and it is shaping up to be a very strong year. That’s good news for law schools, which must maintain minimum bar pass rates to stay accredited by the American Bar Association, as well as for law graduates and the legal employers who want to hire them.
Of the 46 states to report results, 31 had higher pass rates compared with last year; 12 had lower pass rates; and three pass rates stayed the same.
The boost in scores was not unexpected. The National Conference of Bar Examiners said in August that the national average score on the multiple-choice portion of the bar exam was 141.8 — up 1.3 points from July 2023. That’s the highest average MBE score since 2013, with the exception of 2020 when the attorney licensing exam was modified due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Officials with the national conference attributed some of that gain to the unusually large size of the entering class of 2021 and their strong academic credentials. Applicants to law school increased 13% in 2021—a surge attributed to the pandemic — which enabled schools to be more selective about who they admitted.
Florida’s overall pass rate increased from 61% last year to 65% this July, while Texas’ climbed to 75% from 71% in 2023. Illinois posted a 72% overall pass rate, up from 70% last year. Michigan’s pass rate shot up 9 percentage points to 64% this year. Pennsylvania’s pass rate when from 71% last year to 77% this year.
Most of the states with lower bar pass rates, including Virginia and South Carolina, were down by small margins. Wyoming was a notable exception with an overall pass rate of 65%—15 percentage points lower than last year’s 80% pass rate. But that rate was based on just 52 July bar examinees in the state.
California is scheduled to release bar exam results on Nov. 8, while both Ohio and Maryland have said results will be available on Friday. Results from the District of Columbia will be available “on or before” Nov. 5, officials have said.
Read more:
Bar exam pass rates are up in most states as more scores roll in
Bar exam results for July on the rise
Reporting by Karen Sloan
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