July 2016 Texas Bar Exam Results Show Increased Passage Rate

Summary: The results from the July 2016 Texas Bar Exam has been released.

There’s a reason to celebrate in Texas. The Lonestar State reported a huge increase in the bar passage rate from February to July 2016. In February, only 56% of candidates passed the Texas Bar Exam, but in July, the pass rate rose to an impressive 70%.

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Results for the July 2016 test were released earlier this month. According to the Texas Board of Law Examiners website, the overall pass rate was 70%. First-time exam takers had a pass rate of 78%.

The state released data about the test takers’ educational backgrounds. They found that the University of Texas School of Law was the state law school with the best first-time candidate pass rate, with an astounding 94% pass rate. Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and Baylor Law School were next on the list with 91% and 87%, respectively. There were a total of 1,889 Texas-educated candidates who were either first time or repeat examinees.

Houston’s three law schools had a varying degree of success. The University of Houston Law Center had 86% of its first time test takers pass, and The Houston College of Law had a 73% pass rate. Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law came in third with a 66% pass rate.

Texas’ score increase was in line with other states’ such as New York. While New York’s pass rate increase was largely due to its adoption of the Uniform Bar Exam, Texas did not adopt that system. Unlike some other states, however, Texas has strict rules as to who is allowed to take the Bar Exam. Only American Bar Association-accredited schools’ graduates are allowed to take the Texas test, according to Dallas News.

For the July test, 2098 candidates passed and 877 failed. There were 786 out-of-state graduates of ABA-accredited schools, and 158 candidates who were already licensed attorneys from other states. Foreign educated or foreign-licensed candidates totalled to 140, and there were zero possible reinstatements, meaning people who were previously disbarred but allowed to reapply for a license.

Source: Texas Bar

Photo courtesy of Bar Exam Brief