Law Schools

With Record Low Pass Rate, Almost Everyone Fails California Bar Exam

The overall pass rate was just 26.8 percent. Ouch!

By  
on

(Image via Getty)

The results are in from the February 2020 administration of the California bar exam, and to say they aren’t pretty would be an understatement because the State Bar once again has a historically low pass rate.

According to a press release from the State Bar of California, the overall pass rate for the February 2020 exam was 26.8 percent, while the pass rate for first-time takers was 38 percent. The pass rate for retakers was a shockingly low 22 percent. Last February, the overall pass rate was 31.4 percent, the second-lowest pass rate California has seen since the February 1982 exam. This is the second time since 1986 that the overall pass rate has fallen below 30 percent, and the lowest pass rate recorded in California since 1951, the earliest date listed on the state’s summary of results. For the sake of comparison, let’s take a look at the results for the past few administrations of the California bar.

In February 2015, the overall pass rate was 39.5 percent, and the pass rate for first-time takers was 47.4 percent. In July 2015, the overall pass rate was 46.6 percent, and the pass rate for first-time takers was 60 percent. In February 2016, the overall pass rate was 35.7 percent, and the pass rate for first-time takers was 45 percent. In July 2016, the overall pass rate was 43 percent, and the pass rate for first-time takers was 56 percent. In February 2017, the overall pass rate was 34.5 percent, and the pass rate for first-time takers was 39 percent. In July 2017, the overall pass rate for the state’s first foray with a two-day exam was 49.6 percent, and the pass rate for first-time takers was 62 percent. In February 2018, the overall pass rate was 27.3 percent, and the pass rate for first-time takers was 39 percent. In July 2018, the overall pass rate was 40.7 percent, and the pass rate for first-time takers was 55 percent. In February 2019, the overall pass rate was 31.4 percent, and the pass rate for first-time takers was 41 percent. In July 2019, after an unprecedented essay topic leak, the overall pass rate was 50.1 percent, and the pass rate for first-time takers was 64 percent.

Once again, the State Bar again used the total number of those who completed the exam in their final calculation for the February 2020 passage rate rather than the total number of people who actually sat for the exam. We shudder to think of what the true overall pass rate might be for this administration of the exam.

This winter’s 26.8 percent pass rate represents a 4.6 percentage point decrease over last February’s results, with fewer than 3 in 10 test-takers managing to post a passing score. Donna Hershkowitz, Interim Executive Director of the State Bar, didn’t mention the low pass rate, instead issuing remarks on the administration of the state bar during the pandemic, and the future of the exam, in general.

On the bright side, if there is one, the state’s mean scaled MBE score was 1357, compared with the national average of 1326. (Both scores were down from last year, and the national mean MBE score was an all-time low.)

Sponsored

Here are some additional statistics from this winter’s exam:

School Type First-Timers Repeaters
California ABA 42% 30%
Out-of-State ABA 45% 22%
California Accredited (but not ABA) 17% 10%
Unaccredited: Fixed-Facility 0% 8%
Unaccredited: Correspondence 14% 11%
Unaccredited Distance Learning 16% 9%
All Others 41% 20%
All Applicants 38% 22%

Something here clearly needs to change, and it’s not just law school admissions standards anymore. Imagine how many more people would have passed the exam if the California Supreme Court had decided to lower the state bar’s cut score to bring it in line with that of the vast majority of other states.

At this point, lowering the cut score on the California bar exam may be the state’s only remedy for the thousands of would-be lawyers who continue to fail the test.

Congratulations if you managed to pass the bar exam in California this winter. If you didn’t pass, don’t despair. Many very successful people have failed the bar exam (see our list of famous bar exam failures). Focus on September and try to develop a plan for passing, and someday, you’ll conquer the beast that is the California bar exam.

Sponsored

State Bar of California Releases Results of February 2020 Bar Exam [State Bar of California]
California Bar Exam Pass Rates Drop to All-Time Low 26.8% on February Test [The Recorder]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Topics

, ,