The UM School of Law ranked fourth in Florida for most graduates to pass the July 2024 bar examination, an exam all law students must take to become a lawyer, with an 85.1% passage rate.
UM ranks behind University of Florida (90.6% passage rate), Florida International University (90.5%) and Florida State University (87.4%) respectively. These rates are all higher than the Florida average rate, which was 65% for July 2024.
The UM passage rate is up 5.5 percentage points from 79.6% in July 2023, when they ranked fifth, and 72% in July 2022, although they ranked fourth that year.
The exam is administered each February and July, with the latter being more popular due to its alignment with the traditional May law school graduation season. Most states, including Florida, require test-takers to have graduated law school before taking the exam.
Each state has unique requirements for the bar, although there are basic components of the exam that each state can include. The Florida bar exam includes the standard multiple choice (Multistate Bar Exam), essay (Multistate Essay Exam) and professional conduct standards multiple choice (Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam) portions.
Sophia Lopez, a senior political science major on the pre-law track, is in the process of applying for law school. Lopez’s top choice for law school is UM.
“UM will set me up for opportunities I need in order to have a successful career in the future,” Lopez said.
Lopez, while encouraged by the fact that UM’s Bar passage rate is higher than the average for American Bar Association-approved law schools, is more concerned about career prospects post-graduation. Her sister Leandra Lopez, graduated from the UM School of Law in 2022, and recommended UM Law for its ability to secure her a job out of law school.
“She has been a huge role model and has given me great advice, reminding me that bar passage rates should not sway me in a different direction because UM will pave the best path when I try to find jobs after law school,” Lopez said.
Junior English and Spanish major Daniela Hamel also plans to attend law school the fall after she graduates from UM. She would like to stay in Florida for law school as is considering UM.
Hamel has not given too much thought to taking the bar exam yet, but is not too concerned with small differences in bar passage rates when it comes to selecting a law school.
“Bar passage rates are likely to influence my decision of which school to attend only if one is drastically more successful or if one is much lower than the others,” Hamel said.
While not all states have released their statistics for the July administration of the exam, Florida’s passage rate was the fourth lowest out of the 23 states that have published their results, indicating that the Florida exam could be more difficult than average.
“The Florida bar exam is known to be one of the most difficult bar exams in the country, making their 85% impressive,” Hamel said.
More information about the Florida bar exam can be found on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners website and UM-specific information can be found on their website.
This story was updated at 2:11 p.m. on Oct. 4 to say percentage points.