California bar exam jumps after lowering of cut score

Last summer, I covered the potential changes as the California state bar lowered its cut score from 144 to 139. The October 2020 exam (administered online) was the first such exam. The statistics have been released. A few quick takes, including some comparisons to last year.

First time applicants declined slightly year over year, from 5198 to 4999. (It might be that some of the recent closures or loss of ABA accreditation from some law schools has yielded a decline in prospective test-takers.) Repeaters increased significantly, from 3008 to 3733. Repeaters appeared to be down in most other jurisdictions around the country. But given California’s very high cut score, which yields a high failure rate, students who may have otherwise been inclined not to repeat found value in trying again with a lower cut score.

The first-time pass rate among California ABA-accredited law schools rose from 71.3% to 84%. This is a big jump and good news for many law schools. Part might be the loss of some more marginal formerly-accredited schools in this figure. But the bulk is assuredly because California test-takers are more capable than the typical test-taker, and while 139 is still a relatively high cut score, it swept in a lot of new passers. The out-of-state ABA pass rate rose from 73% to 78%, not as dramatic.

Among California accredited schools, the first-time pass rate rose from 26.2% to 40%, as I suggested would provide an opportunity for such schools to thrive.

The repeater rate also rose significantly, from 26.7% to 43.0%. The raw total of passing repeaters doubled from around 800 to around 1600.

We’ll know more about race, school-specific data, and foreign attorneys when more data is released. We’ll see if longer-term access to justice or attorney discipline rates are affected. But it’s good news for law schools and law students in the state of California.