February Maryland bar exam passage nears record low

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The number of people who passed Maryland’s February bar exam hit a 47-year low, with just a 38 percent passage rate overall.

This year’s February results mark the lowest passage rate for any bar exam since 1971, when the pass rate also was 38 percent. The lowest before that was in February 1969, when only 35 percent passed, according to the State Board of Law Examiners.

Of the 471 people who took the exam three months ago, 180 passed, according to numbers released by the board Monday. Last year, 233 of the 560 people who took the test passed, or a 42 percent pass rate.

“We’re following a national trend of lower performance on the bar exams including the multistate bar exam and the multistate performance test, which are given in many states,” said Jonathan A. Azrael, chairman of the state board.

The board has a review process for individuals who were close to passing the exam, he added. For the February test, 38 additional applicants passed on the re-grade, “which increased the passing rate substantially,” Azrael said.

Nationwide, the average score for the February multistate bar exam was 132.8, a record low, according to the National Conference of Bar Examiners. (The average score last year was 134.1)

The number of test-takers this year also decreased by 5 percent compared to last year, the NCBE said in a press release.

The majority of February applicants are typically repeat test-takers. This year, for example, only 35 percent of individuals were taking the Maryland exam for the first time. Forty-six percent of the first-time takers passed, according to the state board of Law Examiners.

Azrael attributed the decrease in both passage rate and number of applicants to law schools accepting students with lower LSAT scores and a decrease in law school admissions.

“The students who are now coming through and taking the bar exam could be expected to not perform as well as students in prior years when law schools were accepting students with higher LSAT scores,” Azrael said.

Some applicants may also be choosing to take the Uniform Bar Exam in Washington, as it is more transferable to other states. The number of people who take the exam in Maryland may increase as the state implements the Uniform Bar Exam, which could begin as early as July 2019.

Law schools breakdown

Students from Maryland’s two law schools performed about the same as last year. Overall, 43 percent of test-takers from Maryland law schools passed. Forty-two percent of University of Baltimore School of Law graduates and 44 percent of University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law graduates passed the February exam, according to the board.

“I’m very pleased to see that we exceeded the pass rate on both first-time takers and the overall state average,” said Ronald Weich, dean of UB Law. “But these are not happy numbers. It seems fairly typical for the February administration of the bar.”

Weich agreed February test takers are a “different cohort of students.” On top of largely being repeat test takers, they are also on a different study schedule. Some work full-time while studying for the exam. UB Law advises students to take time off to study for the bar if they are able to, Weich said.

The two Maryland schools made up one-third of total test takers. Individually, 24 percent of test-takers were from UB Law and 10 percent were from UM Carey.

Donald B. Tobin, dean of UM Carey, was unavailable for comment Monday.

Anamika Roy is a student at UM Carey.