California February 2003 Bar Exam Results

From my Concord University sign-on page:

60% First Time Passing Percentage Bests State Rate on February 03 California Bar Exam

Six of the ten graduates in Concord's inaugural class passed the February California Bar Exam. The results were released over the weekend. Concord's 60% rate beat the overall state first time passing percentage of 50.2% for all applicants and the California-based ABA schools' 57.4 results.

In announcing the results, Dean Goetz said, " We are extremely proud of all of our graduates, as they have not only achieved another historic milestone in online legal education, but have done so with flying colors. These results are a testament to their hard work and trailblazing efforts over the past four and a half years, as well as to the quality of the legal education Concord provides."

Given the small number of Concord applicants, it is not possible to draw any long-term statistical conclusions from these initial results. However, the pass rate reflects Concord's continuing commitment to provide an excellent legal education as well as the resources for students to build successful test-taking skills.

In addition to the feedback that students receive on their writing throughout the curriculum, Concord students have the advantage of several unique programs. First year students are encouraged to actively participate in Start on Skills (SOS) and Concord Essay Outreach (CEO) Which are followed up by Concord First, the course designed to hone essay-writing skills and reinforce substantive law knowledge for the all-important First Year Law Students Exam (FYLSE).

In year four, the new Capstone course is devoted to laying the foundation for success on the California Bar Examination. Leading up to and following graduation, the Bar Mentoring program - headed by Dean Brandes - provides graduates with a "Concord connection" and expert advice as they navigate through commercial bar review courses in preparation for the bar exam.

These programs are continually evaluated and reviewed by Concord deans and faculty through its quarterly institutional assessment. Student feedback is vital and surely the experience of Concord's first graduates will be incorporated in future bar related programs.

For now, let's enjoy their success. A hearty congratulations to all!


FEBRUARY 2003 CALIFORNIA BAR EXAM STATS


Concord Law School 60%
California based ABA schools 57.4%
All first time takers 50.2%
Out of state ABA schools 48.6%
All distance education schools 42.6%
California State Bar accredited schools 22.4%
Unaccredited (fixed facility) schools 17.4%

 

Thanks for posting this, Kajidoro. It's interesting.

That's pretty good. Of course, they will have to keep it up.

They tell me that the pass-percentage has been falling noticably in the last few years. I can't believe that law students are getting dumber. So I wonder if they aren't making the bar exam harder, in order to restrict entry into a profession that's suffering layoffs and is rather glutted.

That's pretty striking.

DL law graduates (by definition non-ABA) perform nearly as well as out-of-state ABA graduates and considerably better than graduates of on-campus non-ABA programs.

I don't think that this is a fluke of this particular test either, since recent results have shown the same pattern, ever since they started separating out DL stats when reporting the results.

It may just be that the DL law schools are moving up and are performing considerably better than they did in the past.