The American Bar Association has for the second time warned FAMU, the Florida Agriculture & Mechanical University College of Law in Orlando that it still doesn’t meet the standards it needs to remain accredited. The bar association accredits law schools across the country. In February the association sent FAMU a list of areas it needed to improve otherwise it could be in danger.
FAMU has improved in many of the areas, but the bar association ”isn’t convinced that FAMU students are being prepared well enough for the Florida bar examination,” according to the Orlando Sentinel. Passing the bar exam is a prerequisite for practicing law in the state of Florida. With a market that is sluggish, being well prepared is its own boon.
FAMU has had a low bar passage rate and has enrolled students with poorer credentials compared to other law schools. It has taken a lot of heat because of this.
The American Bar Association sent a report to the university and said that it has “reason for concern as to the effectiveness of the academic support made by the Law school, in that there is a high attrition rate among students, and an extremely low bar passage rate for graduates of the Law School.” FAMU’s average was 15 percentage points below the state’s average between 2007 and 2011.
FAMU has stated that students’ passing scores have leaped upward by 25% and that the school will demonstrate full compliance in the areas that the bar association asks for.