Bar exam pass rates have dropped the last five years, but a new study by The National Jurist that looks at LSAT scores shows the decline should slow.
The magazine looked at pass rates and LSAT scores for the classes of 2013 and 2014, using linear regression to predict bar pass rates based on median LSAT scores.
The median law school bar exam pass rate has dropped from 89 percent for the class of 2009 to 81 percent for the class of 2014, the most recent data available from the American Bar Association.
But, based on incoming LSAT scores for current classes, bar exam pass rates will drop less than 1 percent — to 80.25 percent — by the class of 2018.
“Law schools have taken great strides to assist students and it is having a statistically valid improvement on pass rates,” said Jack Crittenden, editor-in-chief of The National Jurist. “If rates drop further, it appears it will be due to other causes than the intellectual capacity of the current classes.”
Many critics have pointed out that LSAT scores are not designed to predict bar exam success, and that first year grades are a better indicator.
The National Jurist magazine will release a report on the best schools for bar exam preparation in its Winter 2017 issue, using similar methodology to an analysis it did in Winter 2015.
Forty law schools will be recognized in the magazine as high performers, including Lincoln Memorial University John J. Duncan, Jr. School of Law, which received provisional accreditation in 2014 and was not included in the study two years ago.
The study predicts bar exam pass rates using average LSAT scores, and then identifies the schools that perform better than expected. Forty law schools performed 4 percentage points better than predicted for the classes of 2013 and 2014, the most recent data available at the time of the study.
The magazine article will provide details on the top 40 schools. Here they are in alphabetical order.
AKRON, UNIVERSITY OF
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
BALTIMORE, UNIVERSITY OF
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY, UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA-DAVIS, UNIVERSITY OF
CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY
CAPITAL UNIVERSITY
DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY
FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
FLORIDA, UNIVERSITY OF
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
KENTUCKY, UNIVERSITY OF
LINCOLN MEMORIAL
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY-LOS ANGELES
MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY, UNIVERSITY OF
NEBRASKA, UNIVERSITY OF
NEW ENGLAND LAW | BOSTON
NEW HAMPSHIRE UNIVERSITY OF
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY
NORTH CAROLINA, UNIVERSITY OF
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY
SOUTH DAKOTA, UNIVERSITY OF
SOUTH TEXAS COLLEGE OF LAW
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, UNIVERSITY OF
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY-CARBONDALE
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STETSON UNIVERSITY
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
TOLEDO, UNIVERSITY OF
TULSA, UNIVERSITY OF
VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
WESTERN STATE COLLEGE OF LAW
WIDENER-COMMONWEALTH
