2025 bar exam results are out…and they may change how you build your law school list 3/25/26 update

deb_mitchell

3/25/26 update: We were alerted that the original lists shared earlier weren’t fully aligned with the ABA dataset official numbers. We had a few schools missing and some misordered. We have rebuilt the rankings to accurately reflect all qualifying schools.

The 2025 first-time bar exam results have just been released, and the national numbers are encouraging.

At the national level, the numbers are encouraging.

About 84% of first-time test takers passed the bar, slightly higher than last year.

First-time bar takers: 34,806

First-time passers: 29,300

But once you look deeper into the school-by-school results, a much more interesting story emerges.

The “ultimate bar pass rate” (within two years of graduation) reached 92%, well above the ABA’s 75% accreditation requirement. (Reuters)

But when you dig into the school-by-school data, the story becomes much more interesting, especially if you’re building or adjusting your law school list.

The Schools With the Highest Pass Rates

A handful of schools delivered nearly perfect first-time pass rates in 2025.

Top 50 Law Schools by First-Time Bar Pass Rate (2025)

Rank	Law School	Pass Rate
1	Stanford University	99.43%
2	Yale University	98.54%
3	Duke University	98.23%
4	Harvard University	97.90%
5	Southern Methodist University	97.75%
6	New York University	96.94%
7	Brigham Young University	96.85%
8	University of Chicago	96.73%
9	UCLA	96.65%
10	Belmont University	96.49%
11	University of Texas	96.39%
12	Boston College	96.19%
13	Texas Tech University	95.52%
14	University of Minnesota	95.31%
15	Texas A&M University	95.28%
16	University of Alabama	95.24%
17	University of Virginia	95.11%
18	Boston University	94.93%
19	UC Berkeley	94.79%
20	Columbia University	94.73%
21	Vanderbilt University	94.64%
22	University of Utah	94.57%
23	Georgetown University	94.55%
24	University of Pennsylvania	94.42%
25	University of Kansas	94.21%
26	University of Michigan	94.15%
27	University of Southern California (USC)	94.14%
28	University of North Carolina	94.12%
29	Baylor University	93.69%
30	Cornell University	93.68%
31	Campbell University	93.48%
32	Washington & Lee University	93.46%
33	UC Davis	93.24%
34	University of Illinois	93.20%
35	The Ohio State University	93.13%
36	University of Pittsburgh	93.04%
37	William & Mary	92.78%
38	University of Washington	92.61%
39	Arizona State University	91.94%
40	Northwestern University	91.83%
41	University of Oklahoma	91.67%
42	University of Iowa	91.39%
43	University of Richmond	91.30%
44	Regent University	91.26%
45	Fordham University	90.80%
46	Pepperdine University	90.71%
47	Northeastern University	90.52%
48	Samford University	90.44%
49	Catholic University of America	90.38%
50	University of Florida	90.20%

For example, 175 of the 176 Stanford graduates who took the bar passed. (Reuters)

These schools combine highly selective admissions, strong academic preparation, and intensive bar prep support.

But Pass Rate Isn’t the Whole Story

When you look at how many graduates actually passed the bar, a different list of schools becomes important.

Some law schools simply graduate very large classes, meaning they produce a huge share of the new lawyers entering the profession.

Top 50 Schools by Number of First-Time Bar Passers (2025)

Rank	Law School	Took Bar	Passed	Pass Rate
1	Georgetown University	679	642	94.55%
2	Harvard University	620	607	97.90%
3	The George Washington University	559	490	87.66%
4	Columbia University	455	431	94.73%
5	New York University	425	412	96.94%
6	Fordham University	424	385	90.80%
7	University of Michigan	342	322	94.15%
8	University of California-Los Angeles	328	317	96.65%
9	American University	366	317	86.61%
10	University of Miami	367	313	85.29%
11	Brooklyn Law School	358	306	85.47%
12	Rutgers University	383	303	79.11%
13	University of California-San Francisco,	349	301	86.25%
14	Texas, University of	305	294	96.39%
15	Virginia, University of	307	292	95.11%
16	Suffolk University	348	281	80.75%
17	University of California-Berkeley,	288	273	94.79%
18	Cardozo, Yeshiva University	304	267	87.83%
19	New York Law School	303	262	86.47%
20	Arizona State University	273	251	91.94%
21	South Texas College of Law Houston	284	243	85.56%
22	Washington University (St. Louis)	270	242	89.63%
23	Stetson University	284	241	84.86%
24	University of Pennsylvania	251	237	94.42%
25	Northwestern University	257	236	91.83%
26	Mitchell/Hamline School of Law	328	236	71.95%
27	University of Denver	286	233	81.47%
28	Loyola Marymount University-Los Angeles	286	228	79.72%
29	Duke University	226	222	98.23%
30	Loyola University-Chicago	259	222	85.71%
31	St. John's University	249	218	87.55%
32	Southern Methodist University	222	217	97.75%
33	New England Law/Boston	291	215	73.88%
34	University of Southern California	222	209	94.14%
35	Hofstra University	264	209	79.17%
36	Southwestern Law School	290	209	72.07%
37	The University of Chicago	214	207	96.73%
38	Boston University	217	206	94.93%
39	Yale University	206	203	98.54%
40	University of Minnesota	213	203	95.31%
41	Boston College	210	202	96.19%
42	University of Houston	238	201	84.45%
43	St. Mary's University	234	198	84.62%
44	University of San Diego	226	196	86.73%
45	Emory University	227	196	86.34%
46	University of California-Davis	207	193	93.24%
47	University of Illinois-Chicago	279	192	68.82%
48	Northeastern University	211	191	90.52%
49	Penn State Dickinson Law	217	190	87.56%
50	University of Florida	204	184	90.20%

Together, these 10 law schools produced roughly 4,236 new lawyers in 2025…about 14–15% of all first-time bar passers nationwide.

That’s an incredible concentration of the legal talent pipeline.

Some Schools Quietly Crushed the Bar Exam

Another interesting trend in the data: several mid-ranked schools posted outstanding pass rates.

Examples include:

School	Pass Rate
BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School	96.85%
Belmont University College of Law	96.49%
Texas Tech University School of Law	95.52%
Texas A&M University School of Law	95.28%

Texas schools in particular had a strong year, with four schools landing in the top 15 nationwide for first-time pass rates. (University of Texas School of Law; SMU Dedman School of Law; Texas A&M University School of Law; Texas Tech University School of Law) (Reuters)

• This is a reminder that bar success isn’t determined by prestige alone.

What This Means for Your Law School List

If you’re building your law school strategy, the new results suggest looking at a few additional factors beyond rankings.

Bar pass performance
Consistently high pass rates may signal strong bar preparation.

Class size and outcomes
Large programs may produce more successful graduates simply because they graduate more students.

Regional alignment
Some schools perform extremely well because their curriculum is closely aligned with their state’s bar exam.

The Big Takeaway

There are really two ways to evaluate law schools:

Pass rate performance
Some schools deliver the highest bar passage percentages.
How likely are students to pass the bar?

Pipeline impact
Others produce the largest number of successful attorneys entering the profession.
How many new lawyers does a school produce each year?

The best choice for you may depend on your goals, your target market, and the kind of support system you want during law school.

If you're building or refining your law school list, this is the kind of data worth paying attention to.

💬 Kaplan Legal Community Question

Did any of these results change how you're thinking about your law school list?

Are there schools you’re adding or reconsidering after seeing the 2025 bar exam data?




Source: See the raw data here
Source: Reuters article

KatherineGalland_KCT

This data is a huge reality check for anyone building a school list. We often get caught up in prestige or campus culture, but bar passage rates are essentially the 'Return on Investment' metric for law school. If you’re taking on six figures of debt, you need to know the school’s curriculum and academic support are actually geared toward getting you licensed. Seeing schools like Belmont and Texas Tech outperform some bigger name programs proves that prestige doesn't always equal preparation. It’s definitely important to look at schools that prioritize bar-specific support rather than just national ranking!