Analysis of first-time bar passage data for Class of 2023 and ultimate bar passage data for Class of 2021
The ABA has released its new batch of data on bar passage. The data includes the first-time passage data for the Class of 2023 and the “ultimate” passage data for the Class of 2021. As I noted earlier, USNWR has increased the weight on bar passage as a metric (18% of the methodology is for first-time passage, 7% for ultimate), and it is one of the biggest metrics. It is also one of the most volatile metrics.
To offer a snapshot of what the data means, I looked at both the first-time and ultimate passage data. I compared schools’ performance against their Class of 2022 and 2020 metrics. I weighed the data the way USNWR does for a point of comparison.
Note that USNWR has not yet released its latest rankings for Spring 2024. That will include the Class of 2022 and 2020 metrics. This new batch of data will appear on rankings released in 2025.
Here are the schools projected to improve in this metric (which, again, under the current methodology, is 25% of the rankings) over the Classes of 2022 and 2020. The numbers below show the change in score; that is, they show how much a school is projected to improve or decline in the scoring. It is not the bar passage data, which is a comparative metric that can be harder to make meaningful if viewed simply in raw terms. That said, these numbers are, in their own way, meaningless, as they are just one factor among several.
Pontifical Catholic University of P.R. 0.316441
Appalachian School of Law 0.2564
Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law 0.230382
Widener University-Delaware 0.225445
Northern Kentucky University 0.201138
Stetson University College of Law 0.188107
Villanova University 0.179214
Miami, University of 0.158228
Kansas, University of 0.152897
Albany Law School 0.141105
Baltimore, University of 0.129179
Texas Tech University 0.127884
Southern Illinois University 0.127633
Cincinnati, University of 0.127493
Saint Louis University 0.122641
North Carolina Central University 0.118442
Pittsburgh, University of 0.116755
Memphis, University of 0.106309
Vanderbilt University 0.104692
Boston College 0.102051
Here are the schools projected to decline in this metric over the Classes of 2022 and 2020.
Willamette University -0.41276
New Hampshire, University of -0.3903
Illinois, University of -0.32793
Case Western Reserve University -0.32763
Florida A&M University -0.31228
Ohio Northern University -0.30423
City University of New York -0.25318
Kentucky, University of -0.20322
Southern University -0.18699
Missouri, University of -0.17881
Puerto Rico, University of -0.166
Seattle University -0.16593
Pennsylvania State-Dickinson Law -0.15274
Regent University Law School -0.14854
Tulsa, University of -0.14119
Colorado, University of -0.1361
Gonzaga University -0.1291
Cleveland State University College of Law -0.12842
California Western School of Law -0.12533
St. Thomas University (Florida) -0.12298