Arkansas Bar Exam Pass Rates Up

Stacy Leeds

The bar exam passage rates increased slightly in Arkansas in 2015, bucking a national trend.

The National Law Journal reported in November that bar exam pass rates in several states dropped in 2015, including California, Georgia and New York.

But in Arkansas, the pass rate improved for all takers to 64.5 percent in 2015, after hitting 63.8 percent, the lowest rate since 2005, according to the numbers provided by the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville.

Students from Fayetteville’s law school had a 67.7 percent pass rate in 2015, up from 66.1 percent the previous year. Of first-time takers, 78.4 percent passed in 2015, up from 73.4 percent.

Students from the William H. Bowen School of Law in Little Rock had a 62.2 percent bar exam pass rate in 2015, which was up from 58.6 percent the previous year. First-time takers did much better: 76.3 percent in 2015, up from 74.8 percent in 2014.

“Over time, the state averages here have been fairly consistent, even going back 20 years,” said Stacy Leeds, dean of the UA School of Law.

She said that both Arkansas law schools admit the right number of students. “At least what I know about our own statistics here, we’re making sure that we admit people who have a reasonable amount of success,” she said. “And we think we prepare them pretty well for the bar exam.”

Arkansas Bar Exam Results 2005-2015

Source: University of Arkansas School of Law