Texas and Pennsylvania Bar Exam Pass Rates Stand Below 70%

Texas and Pennsylvania Bar Exam Pass Rates Stand Below 70%

Texas Bar Exam Pass Rate Remains Steady At 68.29%

With an overall pass rate of 68.29%, Texas has recorded nearly the same pass rate as the July 2019 bar exam, which was the last time the bar exam was held in July in the state before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. A total of 3,144 candidates appeared for the exam (excluding 10 courtesy seating candidates), out of which 2,147 passed and 997 failed the exam.

Among these, the pass rate among the first-time test takers was 77.77%, where out of the 2,618 first-time examinees, 2,036 passed and 582 failed. The pass rate among the repeat test takers stood at 21.10%, where among a total of 526 repeat test-takers, 111 passed and 415 failed. The pass rate among the first-time examinees from Texas law schools stood at 82.18% and for the first-time candidates of other types including foreign educated lawyers and out-of-state law graduates, the same stood at 69.98%. The pass rate among the repeat exam takers who graduated from Texas law schools was 24.21%.

Among the 1,672 first-time test takers from Texas law schools, graduates from the University of Texas School of Law recorded the highest pass rate at 94.61%. Among the 297 candidates from UT Law, 281 passed and 16 failed the exam. At 93.33%, Texas A & M University School of Law recorded the second-highest pass rate among the first-time examinees, where among the total 150 test-takers, 140 passed and 10 failed. This was followed by the Texas Tech University of Law with a pass rate of 90.91%. Among the Texas law schools, at 54.17%, T.S.U. Law recorded the lowest pass rate for first-time test-takers. University of Houston Law School, Baylor Law School, and S.M.U. Law recorded pass rates above 85%.

Among the repeat examinees from Texas law schools, SMU Law recorded the highest pass rate at 46.15% and Baylor Law School recorded the lowest at 0%. The pass rate among first-time takers who received their J.D. from out-of-state law schools stood at 73.73%.

So far, Texas is the largest bar exam jurisdiction that has reported its July 2021 bar exam results. the exam was held in person. For those who intended to appear for the exam in July 2020, the state held two different exams, an in-person exam in September 2020 that saw an overall pass rate of about 77% and another shortened remote bar exam in October 2020 that yielded a 60% pass rate. California and New York bar exam results are expected to be released on November 12 and in mid-December respectively.

Pennsylvania Bar Exam Pass Rate Falls Below 70%

Results of the Pennsylvania Bar Exam held in July 2021 were announced by the Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. Among the 1,243 test-takers, 863 passed and 380 failed, imputing an overall pass rate of 69.43%. The overall pass rates for the October 2020 and July 2019 exams were higher and stood at 75.80% and 73.07% respectively.

A total of 1,058 candidates were first-time test-takers out of which 817 passed the exam and 241 failed. The pass rate among the first-time test takers stood at 77.22%. Among the 185 repeat examinees, 46 passed the exam and 139 failed.

At 90.32%, the University of Pennsylvania Law School recorded the highest overall pass rate. Among the 31 test-takers from the law school, 28 passed the exam. The second highest overall pass rate of 85.44% was recorded by Villanova University School of Law, followed by Duquesne University School of Law at 80.00%. At 46.08%, Widener University, Delaware School of Law had the lowest overall pass rate.

Among the first-time examinees, the highest pass rate was again recorded by the University of Pennsylvania School of Law at 93.33%, again followed by Villanova University School of Law at 92.47%. The highest number of candidates were from Temple University- James E. Beasley School of Law and among the 171 graduates of the law school who appeared for the exam, 129 passed, imputing an overall pass rate of 75.44%.