Tied for Last: New Jersey's Bar Passage Rate Is at the Bottom of the Heap | New Jersey Law Journal (2024)

FAQs

Tied for Last: New Jersey's Bar Passage Rate Is at the Bottom of the Heap | New Jersey Law Journal? ›

In February's bar exam, the passage rate was 32%, which the lowest score of any New Jersey bar test since 2019. New Jersey's rate was tied with Alabama's as the lowest in the nation, according to the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

UBE total scores are reported on a 400-point scale and a passing score of 266 is required in New Jersey. New Jersey bar students are required to pass a conduct exam called the MPRE with a score of at least 75.

The New Jersey Bar Exam is as hard as the bar exam of the 41 jurisdictions that use the 3 UBE components.

Two-year pass rate for 2021 graduates: 75.7%

Data ranges from 64.8 to 90.7. End of interactive chart.

About the Bar Exam Curve

UBE scaled passing scores range from 260-280 out of 400 and non-UBE jurisdictions may have different grading systems. If you earn 266 points, you pass the bar exam. The MBE is “scaled” for parity with past bar exams.

Yes, the California bar exam is widely considered to be the most difficult of all state bar exams in the US. The California bar exam has a pass rate of 34%.

Overall, Utah is the easiest bar exam to pass. This is true whether you are a first-time taker or repeat taker! In July 2023, Utah had a 94% pass rate for first time takers and a 73% pass rate for repeat takers. It also has the lowest UBE cut score of 260.

The bar exam pass rate is typically between 60-80% depending on your bar exam state. That means that 20-40% of people who sit for that bar exam do not pass. As you watch your percentile rank, your goal is to be approximately in the 30th-40th percentile or higher in each subject as you progress in your studies.

Approximately 16,000 people attempt the California Bar Exam each year, and the success rate is approximately 50%. In July 2024, 51.5 percent of applicants passed this toughest exam in the world.

What is a good bar passage rate? ›

Most of the top 15 law schools in the U.S. have a consistent bar-exam pass rate above 90 percent. The truth is, the bar exam is an eminently tough exam. There's no middle ground, either: You either fail it or pass it.

Ten states had bar passage rates above 70% (Nebraska, Idaho, Kansas, Oregon, Utah, Montana, New Mexico, Iowa, Missouri, and Oklahoma). For those interested in first-time takers only, here is a state-by-state breakdown of first-time bar examinees' performance.

The MEE and MPT are graded on a seven-point (0-1-2-3-4-5-6) standard. Applicants must attain a combined total of 266 points or greater to pass the examination. The MBE portion of the examination constitutes 50% of the score, the MEE 30% and the MPT 20%.

Graduates of the 18 California-accredited schools had a pass rate of just 21% on the July 2022 bar exam, compared with 67% among graduates of ABA law schools, according to the state bar's first-ever comprehensive Law School Profile , opens new tab, released on Friday.

Preliminary statistical analyses show that of the 7,555 applicants who completed the GBX, 67.3 percent were first-time takers. The pass rate for these 5,083 first-time applicants was 64.8 percent. The pass rate for the 2,472 applicants repeating the exam was 24.1 percent.

Alaska is the state with the highest minimum UBE score, at 280. This is followed by Colorado (276), Arizona (273), Idaho (272), and Pennsylvania (272).

Depending on how many people have taken the UBE, a score of 280 is approximately the 73rd percentile. A 300 is in about the 90th percentile, and 330 is in the top 1% of all scores.

Your overall score

(Your Uniform Bar Exam score report should also clearly indicate “PASS” or “FAIL”!) Uniform Bar Exam states require a score between 260 and 280 to pass the Uniform Bar Exam. So, if your score was above 280, you technically received a score that is considered passing in every Uniform Bar Exam state.

The percentage needed for a passing MBE score in California is 69.5% (1390/2000 or 139/200) is the scaled score. Being that 25 random questions are dropped; a raw score of 1220/1750 or 122/175 is needed. For a more accurate determination of your score, take advantage of One-Timers' MBE Test Simulator.

We suggest aiming for at least 60% to be safe. This means you should get 60-62 questions correct on a 100-question practice test or 120-124 questions correct on a full MBE exam.