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Summary: Florida released the passage results for its July 2016 bar exam.
Florida released its July 2016 bar exam results; and while the outcomes proved positive for a few local schools, the data was overall disappointing for the state.
While hopeful pundits predicted that passage rates may increase this year, Florida saw a slight dip from July 2015’s test. This year, 68.2% of applicants passed, which is down from last year’s rate of 68.9%. This decline is similar to other states such as California, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, and Iowa. While Florida’s dip was less than a percentage point, Iowa dropped by a whopping 15% from the previous year.
New York, which adopted the Uniform Bar Exam, saw an increase this year. Idaho, Kansas, and West Virginia also saw slight increases in their bar passage rates.
“Florida’s drop is a little surprising,” Derek Muller, a professor at Pepperdine University School of Law, said on his blog, Excess of Democracy.
The Florida Board of Bar Examiners released data about the 3,448 candidates who took the test in July. The Court approved 1,634 candidates for admission to the Florida Bar earlier in September, and in October, those candidates were sworn in at ceremonies held at district courts.
The Florida Bar released a breakdown of the examinees’ educational background. The following chart is based solely on first-time test takers who finished parts A and B.
Florida University College of Law had an impressive 87.5% pass rate, and this was the third time in a row that they achieved the top spot. Stetson University College of Law and the University of Miami also had passage percentages in the 80s.
“FIU Law graduates continue to excel, in passing the bar and subsequently in employment results. Our students’ work ethic and dedication, as well as the quality of teaching from our faculty, are evidenced in these results,” said R. Alexander Acosta, Dean of the FIU College of Law.
On the flip side, St. Thomas University College of Law and Barry University School of Law saw more than half of their test-takers fail. Judging by Ava Maria School of Law’s improvement, it may be a good idea for them to hire a bar passage director. According to Law.com, Ava Maria sought to address their previously low passage rate, so they hired a director to improve their academic profile and change the curriculum to better address questions on the bar exam.
Ava Maria’s score shot up 19% to a 66.7% bar passage rate for this exam.
“This is really good news,” Ava Maria Dean Kevin Cieply said to Law.com. “We have done an awful lot over the past couple of years to address the bar. It was my No. 1 priority.”
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What do you think of the Florida scores? Let us know in the comments below.