National Jurist on Whittier Law School’s Improved Bar Passage Rate
The National Jurist recently featured an article on Whittier Law School’s improved bar passage rate of 70 percent on the most recent administration of the California Bar exam in the Summer of 2012:
Rebounding, after 70 percent of Whittier Law School graduates passed the California bar exam on their first try. While that is far below UCI and even the state average, which is 77 percent, it is an improvement for the Costa Mesa school. This year’s pass rate was the school’s highest since 1998, with the exception of 2008. The school changed its bar preparation program two years ago.
The article credits the school’s adoption of a new bar preparation program two years ago.
This follows news released in November that almost 70 percent of Whittier Law School graduates were employed within 15 months after graduation, with 58 percent acquiring jobs requiring bar passage.
Looking at the California Bar website’s comparative bar passage statistics, it looks like Whittier beat its close competitor Southwestern Law School by six percentage points, and left Thomas Jefferson and La Verne in the dust. The Costa Mesa school tied with northern Cal rivals USF and Golden Gate, and bested quite a few out-of-state schools as well, such as BYU and Tulane. Way to go, Whittier!