Last year, I flagged the sharp decline in 1L academic dismissals in 2020. 1L academic dismissals declined by more than 50%. I wondered if moving to pass-fail grading made schools reluctant to academically evaluate 1Ls with typical academic dismissal, and I wondered if we’d see an increase in 2L academic dismissals this year.

Cumulative 1L academic attrition rebounded to its 2019 level. But 2L academic attrition rose only slightly compared to 2020 and remained below 2019. (I also include “other” attrition, which includes withdrawals among other catch-call categories, for some comparison, too.)

In short, it seems a good number of 1Ls reaped a benefit of pass-fail grading in the Spring 2020 and avoided academic dismissal. That’s great news for 1Ls who spent 2 years in law school and can finish their third year to earn a JD. On the back end, it remains to be seen whether these students have more difficulty passing the bar exam. But it doesn’t appear most schools returned to now-2Ls to revisit their academic performance.