SHARE:
Florida's bar exam passage rate lowest in a decade
People who took the Florida Bar exam for the first time in July posted the lowest passage rate for July test-takers in a decade, a review of the data by The News Service of Florida shows.
The Florida Board of Bar Examiners on Monday published results of the July exam showing that 64.4 percent of the 2,225 first-time participants passed.
As a comparison, 80.2 percent of 3,034 first-time participants passed the Bar exam in July 2012. Since then, the lowest passage rate before this year was 67.2 percent in 2018.
Michele Gavagni, executive director of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, noted this July’s exam was the first in-person July exam since 2019.
The Bar exam was not administered in July 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and was administered online in July 2021.
Florida International University had the highest passage rate among Florida schools this year, with 81.2 percent of 133 FIU law students who took the exam passing.
“This year’s graduates overcame many unusual challenges during their law school experience, and they should all be commended for their resilience,” FIU Law Dean Antony Page said in a statement.
The University of Florida law school had the next-highest passage rate, with 78.7 percent of 150 test-takers passing.
Barry University School of Law posted the lowest passage rate among law schools currently operating, at 49.2 percent.
Florida Coastal School of Law, a private school in Jacksonville that shuttered last year, had 13 students take the exam, with only four passing.
The Florida Supreme Court on Monday approved 1,417 candidates for admission to the Bar, according to a news release from the board.
“This group is not inclusive of all applicants who passed the examination as the character and fitness investigations for some applicants who passed the examination are ongoing,” the news release said.
