Nearly 80 percent of Santa Clara Law graduates who took the July 2008 California Bar Exam passed. Of the 276 graduates who took the exam, 218 passed, resulting in an overall pass rate of 78.9 percent. The first-time pass rate for Santa Clara Law graduates was 82.1 percent.
According to Dean Donald J. Polden, "We are very proud of all our graduates and congratulate them on their outstanding California bar passage results. These results underscore the many ways that Santa Clara Law works to educate lawyers who lead and prepare them for admission to the legal profession. Our faculty continues to provide an outstanding legal education to our students and the law school’s Academic and Professional Development program works closely with our graduates to prepare them for success on the state bar examination and in their professional careers."
According to the Committee of Bar Examiners (www.calbar.ca.gov), 61.7 percent or of July test-takers passed, which is the highest rate since 1997. In July 2004, the pass rate for the July exam was 48.2 percent, but in the following years, it rose to 48.8 percent (2005), 51.8 percent (2006), and 56.1 percent (2007). The 2008 first-time pass rate was 75 percent. The results also indicated that first-time test takers who had attended a California ABA-accredited law school had the best chance of passing—83 percent.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE CALIFORNIA BAR
For more information on California Bar, see www.calbar.ca.gov.
ABOUT SANTA CLARA LAW
Santa Clara University School of Law, founded in 1912 on the site of California’s oldest operating higher-education institution, is dedicated to educating lawyers who lead with a commitment to excellence, ethics, and social justice. One of the nation’s most diverse law schools, Santa Clara Law offers its 975 students an academically rigorous program, including graduate degrees in international law and intellectual property law; combined J.D./MBA degree; and certificates in intellectual property law, international law, and public interest and social justice law. Santa Clara Law is located in the world-class business center of Silicon Valley, and is distinguished nationally for our top-ranked program in intellectual property. For more information, see http://law.scu.edu.
