Bar Exam Pass Rates
Percentage of our graduates who passed the Kansas Bar examination on their first attempt in July 2008. Our passage rate was significantly higher than the state average of 89%.
The first-time bar passage rate for graduates taking the Iowa Bar exam in July was 100%.
Washburn Law faculty take an active role in preparing students for the bar exam:
- All students are invited to a workshop on passing the bar exam in which we discuss the keys to success and have recent graduates speak about what they did to successfully prepare themselves.
- All students are invited and encouraged to participate in our bar essay writing program. Students receive 5-6 hours of classroom instruction in writing bar essays and then write three practice bar essays on which they get personalized feedback.
- All students are invited to participate in a program in which we give bar exam discounts to students who take a certain number of practice bar multiple choice questions.
- All students are invited to take a Remedies course, taught by Professor Michael Hunter Schwartz, in which they are required to write three practice bar essays, take 200 practice bar multiple choice questions as mentioned above, and take one practice performance exam that is discussed as a class. In the Remedies course, students also learn about bar exam time and stress management, reading and learning from bar outlines and lectures, and memorization.
| First-Time WU Takers |
All WU Takers |
Overall Pass Rate |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| July 2008 | |||
| Kansas | 92.3% | 91.5% | 86.0% |
| Missouri | 83.3% | 75.8% | 90.7% |
| February 2008 | |||
| Kansas | 81.5% | 77.8% | 87.0% |
| Missouri | 94.4% | 81.0% | 76.7% |
| July 2007 | |||
| Kansas | 92.2% | 89.2% | 88.0% |
| Missouri | 90.9% | 83.3% | 88.6% |
