ATLANTA—Georgia State University College of Law graduates finished with an 88 percent passage rate for first-time takers on the February 2018 exam, well ahead of the state rate of 70.4 percent and that of other law schools. The college also finished first among all schools for all applicants with a passing rate of 83.1 percent, ahead of the University of Georgia School of Law with 65 percent.
“We are proud of our graduates’ performance on the February exam. These results show that our new strategies for helping students pass the bar are paying off,” said Wendy F. Hensel, dean and professor of law.
Those strategies include hiring the college’s first full-time director of academic success, Kim D’Haene, as well as adding a mandatory bar exam boot camp and voluntary bar essay workshops to help graduating students.
The College of Law finished ahead of Emory University School of Law’s 75 percent. Savannah Law School finished with 71.4 percent. The University of Georgia School of Law and Mercer University School of Law each finished with 66.7 percent. Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School finished with 24 percent.
The overall state passage rate for all bar applicants is 47 percent with 286 of 608 passing. For the six ABA accredited schools, the overall state rate is 45.4 percent, with 110 of 243 passing.
For the college’s LL.M. graduates, 40 percent of first-time test-takers passed. The state rate for first-time LL.M. candidates is 42.9 percent. Emory Law finished first with 100 percent with one first-time candidate taking the exam. No LL.M. graduates from the University of Georgia or John Marshall passed the exam.