McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento scores highest bar exam pass rate in California

Graduates of the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento earned the highest pass rate throughout California on the February bar exam.

Almost 65% of first-time test-takers who graduated from the Oak Park school of law passed the exam, and 46% of repeat test-takers passed, too, according to the law school. In contrast, statewide data shows that approximately 55% of first-time test takers from California ABA-accredited schools passed, while 41% of repeat test-takers passed. Only 34% of all test-takers in California passed the February bar exam.

“(McGeorge graduates) embrace a ‘Pass Attitude’ that McGeorge has supportively woven into the bar support curriculum,” Lindsay Harrington, director of bar support and assistant law professor at McGeorge, wrote in a statement to The Sacramento Bee. “In my opinion, this is what sets them apart from other bar candidates.”

The results from this past February mark the fourth consecutive year that McGeorge graduates have scored the first or second-highest pass rate on the February bar exam for first-time test-takers throughout the state. The law school’s accelerated honors program also retained its record of a 100% pass rate for first-time test-takers.

Harrington pointed to McGeorge’s Bar Exam Advantage Training program and Dean’s Incentive program as contributors to McGeorge’s bar pass rate.

For example, the Bar Exam Advantage Training program “matches graduates with a bar support professor who provides individualized feedback on their simulated written practice exams and one-on-one conferences to build confidence and exam skills, with a focus on mindset and wellness,” Harrington said.

Michael Schwartz, dean of the law school, added that about 40% of McGeorge students are the first in their family to attend college, much less law school.

The students’ “intelligence, determination, and willingness to work hard” were contributors to their success, he said.

The State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners, facing a $4.2 million annual shortfall because of test costs, had a proposal by Kaplan North America paused after the test-prep company received a letter from the National Conference of Bar Examiners over the format and content of a new test. The bar’s proposal would move the state away from NCBE’s new Next Gen Bar Exam, which 18 states have already committed to using once it is released in July 2026.

Kaplan’s pause and the bar’s plan — to cut costs and make the exam more accessible as early as February — will be discussed at the bar examiners’ monthly meeting on Friday.

This story was originally published June 17, 2024 at 3:28 PM with the headline "McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento scores highest bar exam pass rate in California."