Law School Bar Passage Rates: What the Numbers Don't Tell You
The average ABA law school reports an 82% first-time bar pass rate. That average hides a 44.85%–99.43% spread, and it says almost nothing about whether a school's pass rate predicts yours.
Every law school adjoins to its marketing a pass rate, and most of them mean the same thing: the share of graduates who passed the bar exam the first time they took it. It is the single most comparable outcome number in the Standard 509 disclosures, which is exactly why it is worth understanding properly — including what it cannot tell you.
Across the 192 ABA schools reporting a first-time pass rate with a meaningful sample size, the average is 82.3 percent. That figure is accurate and almost useless on its own, because it sits on top of a range running from 44.85 percent to 99.43 percent. The average describes nobody's school. What matters is where your prospective schools sit in that distribution, and what the number is actually measuring.
What this article does and doesn't claim
Everything below comes from school-reported ABA disclosures, not from outcome research. Pass rates are a measure of institutional support, not a prediction of any individual student. A school's number tells you how well it prepares the average person who attends — which is a real signal, but a probabilistic one. Read it as a description of the school, never as a forecast about you.
First-time versus ultimate: the distinction that matters
Two different numbers appear in the disclosures and they are frequently confused. The first-time pass rate covers only people who passed on their first sitting, counting anyone who eventually passed but failed the first attempt as a non-pass. The ultimate pass rate counts everyone who eventually passed, no matter how many attempts it took. The gap between them is the retake effect.
| School | First-time | Ultimate (2024) | Gap | First-takers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian School of Law | 54.76% | 94.59% | +39.8 pt | 42 |
| Ohio Northern | 56.41% | 82.81% | +26.4 pt | 39 |
| Cooley Law School | 51.45% | 76.72% | +25.3 pt | 138 |
| Inter American (PR) | 56.02% | 79.22% | +23.2 pt | 191 |
| South Dakota | 69.23% | 91.57% | +22.3 pt | 52 |
The largest first-time-to-ultimate gaps among schools with at least 20 first-time takers. A gap this wide means the school's first-time number reflects a very different population than its ultimate number.
That forty-point gap is the entire reason you should distrust first-time rates at low-tier schools in a particular way. At Appalachian, more than four in ten graduates who eventually passed did not pass on their first attempt. Whether that reflects a rigorous bar, a hard cohort, delayed graduates, or something else is not something the disclosure resolves — but the practical reading is that a first-time rate of 54.76 percent describes the exam experience of a typical graduate far less completely than the ultimate rate of 94.59 percent does.
A data caveat worth knowing
In 10 of the 194 schools reporting both figures, the reported ultimate rate is *lower* than the first-time rate — for example, a school reporting 86.71 percent first-time alongside 82.99 percent ultimate. That is arithmetically impossible for a single cohort, because it would mean people passed on their first attempt but not eventually. The explanation is that these measure different groups: first-time rates describe a recent entering cohort, while ultimate rates reported in a given cycle may describe an earlier one. Do not compute a "gain" across these two columns for any individual school without knowing which cohorts are being compared.
The full distribution
Here is how the 192 schools with at least 20 first-time takers actually break down. The shape matters more than the midpoint: the distribution is not centered gently around 82 percent, it is crowded at the top with a long, thin tail below.
| First-time pass rate | Schools | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 95% or higher | 17 | 9% |
| 90–94% | 34 | 18% |
| 85–89% | 42 | 22% |
| 80–84% | 25 | 13% |
| 75–79% | 28 | 15% |
| 70–74% | 21 | 11% |
| 65–69% | 12 | 6% |
| 60–64% | 5 | 3% |
| 55–59% | 5 | 3% |
| Under 55% | 3 | 2% |
48 percent of schools sit at 85 percent or above; 7 percent fall below 65 percent. Sample-weighted figures would differ from this school-count view — this table counts institutions, not graduates.
Two observations follow. First, a school at the top of this table and one in the middle are separated by less than most applicants assume — the difference between 92 and 85 percent is seven questions on a scored exam for a large cohort, which is noise rather than signal at the individual level. Second, the schools at the bottom are a small minority, and only three schools in the entire dataset report a first-time rate under 55 percent.
The extremes, with their sample sizes
| School | First-time | First-takers |
|---|---|---|
| Stanford | 99.43% | 176 |
| Yale | 98.54% | 206 |
| Duke | 98.23% | 226 |
| Harvard | 97.90% | 620 |
| SMU | 97.75% | 222 |
| New York University | 96.94% | 425 |
| Pontifical Catholic (PR) | 44.85% | 136 |
| Cooley Law School | 51.45% | 138 |
| Appalachian School of Law | 54.76% | 42 |
The gap between the highest and lowest schools is 54.6 percentage points — larger than the entire LSAT scale's usable range at the margin.
Harvard's 620 first-time takers make its 97.90 percent a genuinely solid number. A school reporting 92.31 percent on thirteen first-time takers — which exists in the dataset — is not reporting the same kind of fact at all. This is why sample size is the first thing to check on any pass rate you read, and why we filter our own bar passage rankings to schools with meaningful cohorts.
The correlation that isn't there
Here is the assumption worth testing: that highly selective law schools produce high bar pass rates. The data says the relationship is much weaker than people assume, and that selectivity carries its own separate cost.
Grouping by selectivity, schools with a first-time rate of 85 percent or higher average a median LSAT of 164.7 and a tuition of roughly $50,000. Schools below 65 percent average a median LSAT of 148.8 and tuition of roughly $26,000. So the high-pass-rate group is more selective and more expensive — but the pass rate is not what makes it selective. Plenty of highly selective schools sit at the bottom of the pass-rate table.
High pass rate, modest selectivity
Campbell University reports a 93.48 percent first-time rate with a 50.68 percent acceptance rate and a median LSAT of 156, at $51,840 tuition. Samford reports 90.44 percent with 48.97 percent admissions. Saint Louis reports 89.09 percent with 56.43 percent. These are not anomalies — a strong bar record is achievable without a narrow admissions band, and the two numbers measure different things entirely.
The inverse also exists. Schools with selective admissions and mediocre first-time numbers are not statistically strange; they simply spend selectivity on something other than bar preparation. Which of those two configurations is better for you depends on whether you want a strong bar record or a strong professional network — you cannot maximize both at every school, and the tradeoff is real money.
What actually moves a pass rate
The disclosures do not explain causation, but they do describe a structure that consistently shows up in the schools with wide first-time-to-ultimate gaps: the gap is large where the first-time number is low. That pattern fits a specific reading — schools with weak first-time results have a bar prep program that identifies struggling students early and gets them to pass on a later attempt, rather than one that prevents the failure in the first place.
- Institutional support is the variable you can't supply yourself
A school's pass rate reflects the writing instruction, bar prep programming, and academic support available to its students. When comparing schools, that support package is arguably a better use of your attention than the pass rate itself, because it is the part you actually receive.
- A low first-time rate with a high ultimate rate is a warning about timing, not outcome
If you are considering a school in that category, ask what the delay looks like — whether graduates are delaying graduation, or sitting for the exam repeatedly. Those two situations have very different costs to your wallet and your timeline.
- A high first-time rate with a modest ultimate gap means the first attempt genuinely works
This is the profile you want if you are financing law school with a job. A 97 percent first-time rate is not only a quality signal; it is evidence that students are passing on the schedule they planned for, which has direct financial consequences.
How to use this data
- Start with the ultimate rate rather than the first-time rate. It is the more complete statement of whether graduates ultimately qualify, and it is far less sensitive to one unusual year.
- Check the cohort size before you check anything else. Below roughly 20 first-time takers, a single examinee moves the rate by more than four points. Treat those numbers as directional at best.
- Compare schools against schools with similar selectivity and cost. A 95 percent rate at a school charging $26,000 and a 95 percent rate at one charging $70,000 are not comparable outcomes.
- Use it as a floor check, not a ranking. Confirm current figures on the school's own admissions page, because these are self-reported and updated annually.
You can filter the full set of schools by first-time bar passage in our rankings by bar passage, and see acceptance rates, LSAT ranges, and employment figures alongside each one in the school database. If you want to know whether your own numbers put a school within reach, run them through the free score calculator.
Questions we get asked
What is the average bar pass rate for law school graduates?
About 82 percent first-time across ABA schools reporting a meaningful sample size, with the median near 85. But the average is not representative of any individual school: the range runs from 44.85 percent to 99.43 percent, and only 13 of 192 schools fall below 65 percent. Look at the distribution, not the midpoint.
Does a high bar pass rate mean good teaching?
Not directly, and the causal arrow runs both ways. Bar results depend on academic support, bar prep programming, whether students self-select into the exam early, and how selective the school is. A strong pass rate with a 50 percent acceptance rate can reflect strong support; a weak rate at a very selective school can reflect a cohort with unusually demanding bar preparation. Use the number as one input, alongside cost and selectivity.
What is a good bar pass rate to look for?
For financing purposes, the most useful signal is a high first-time rate, because it indicates students pass on their first scheduled attempt. Anything at or above 90% is genuinely strong. Between 80 and 90 percent, check the ultimate rate to see whether students are passing later. Below 70 percent, ask what the school's bar support program actually does before deciding.
Why is a school's ultimate rate sometimes lower than its first-time rate?
Because they measure different cohorts. First-time rates typically describe recent entering classes, while a cycle's ultimate rate may describe an earlier group. Ten of the 194 schools reporting both figures show this pattern, so subtracting one from the other across those columns produces a meaningless negative number. Treat any school's own published pair as the authoritative comparison.
Does the bar pass rate affect my chances of getting into a school?
Almost certainly not as a hard threshold — schools publish these numbers largely as accountability and outcome reporting. What it can do is shift the practical trade-offs: a school with a strong pass rate but modest selectivity may be a better financial fit than a selective school with a weaker record, even if the latter carries more prestige. Confirm the current figure on the school's own site, since these are self-reported and revised each cycle.
How much does the LSAT cost, and how many times can I take it?
Registration is $253 for the 2026–2027 testing year and includes LSAT Argumentative Writing. LSAC limits sittings to five within the current reportable score period and seven over a lifetime, with no per-year cap, and cancelled scores count toward both limits. Need-based fee waivers cover registration for eligible applicants. Confirm current figures on LSAC's fee page before registering.
All bar figures come from ABA Standard 509 Required Disclosures and ABA bar passage datasets for the 2025 reporting cycle, with ultimate rates as reported for 2023 and 2024. Pass rates are self-reported by schools and describe institutional cohorts, not individual outcomes. This article is educational and is not legal or admissions advice — verify any figure you rely on against the school's own disclosures before you decide.
Sources
- ABA Standard 509 Required Disclosures, 2025 reporting cycle — bar passage figures for 196 ABA-accredited law schools
- ABA First-Time Bar Passage Rates dataset (2025 reporting cycle)
- ABA Ultimate Bar Passage Rate dataset (2023 and 2024 reporting cycles)
- National Conference of Bar Examiners — MBE and MPRE scoring, and first-time vs. subsequent-attempt rules
Figures reflect the most recent published data available as of October 10, 2026. Always confirm current policy on lsat.lsac.org.