THE BAR EXAM QUESTION
THE BAR EXAM QUESTION
BRIAN PAPPAS Dean , University of North Dakota School of Law
There is one question I am asked more than any other : What ’ s going on with the bar exam ? There is a persistent view among many North Dakota lawyers that University of North Dakota ( UND ) law graduates do not perform well on the bar exam . Does UND have a bar exam problem ? Examining the data , we score very favorably compared to our peers . Our 2020 students ’ ultimate bar pass rate of 93.65 % in all jurisdictions places us in the top 42 % of all law schools . From 2018-2023 , our UND Law graduates outperform all other law schools on the North Dakota Bar exam . Despite our successes , we are making considerable investments to continue to improve our bar performance .
What is an acceptable performance level ? Setting goals around bar performance is a difficult task . There is no acceptable failure rate - we want all students to pass the bar exam in their first attempt . Most importantly , our goal is not to simply teach to a test , but to prepare students to be capable legal practitioners . The American Bar Association requires a minimum 75 % “ ultimate bar passage rate ,” the passing rate of all graduates who sit for any bar exam within two years of graduation . For the 2020 class , our 93.65 % rate places us in the top 42 % of all law schools and ahead of South Dakota ( 86.79 %), Mitchell Hamline ( 85.38 %), and St . Thomas ( 86.82 %). 1 Once we have the July bar passage information from all states , we will be able to determine our 2021 ultimate bar pass rate .
UND Law Graduates outperform all other law schools on the North Dakota Bar Exam . UND Law graduates comprise 71 % of North Dakota bar exam takers and routinely outperform non-UND examinees . From 2018 to now , 65 % of UND graduates passed the bar exam compared to 58 % of non-UND examinees . UND first time examinees ’ passage rate ( 78 %) routinely exceeds those of non-UND examinees ( 67 %). For repeat takers , 36 % of UND repeat examinees pass versus 32 % of non- UND repeat takers .
Bar exam consistency is an issue . Since
2018 , consistency is an issue for the North Dakota ’ s total pass rate ( ranging from 45-76 %), the UND pass rate ranged ( 27-80 %), and the non-UND pass rate ( 25 % -86 %). How does this compare to other states ? Chart 2 details the 2018-2022 total , first time , and repeat pass rates for North Dakota , South Dakota , Minnesota , Montana , Wyoming , and Idaho . Apart from Minnesota , these states each have one law school and similar entering credentials ( 150-154 median LSAT and 3.26-3.53 median GPA ).
The North Dakota total pass rate ranges from 58 % -73 %, with much greater consistency from first-time takers ( 69-79 %) and much less consistency from repeat takers ( 22 % -53 %). South Dakota has similar consistency issues ( 56-75 %) with fluctuation for first time ( 70-82 %) and repeat takers ( 20-57 %). Wyoming ’ s pass
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