The NIU College of Law is ranked among the top law schools in the nation that add the most value to the ultimate bar passage and over-perform predicted expectations on the bar according to the recent article, “Ultimate Bar Passage Rates: Which Law Schools Are Overperforming and Underperforming Expectations” by Jeffrey S. Kinsler. NIU Law ranked 13th in the country for the studied period (2017-2019). In terms of first-time bar passage, NIU Law finished with the 20th best results in the country for the studied period (2015-2019). NIU Law was one of only 12 schools to finish in the Top 20 for both lists.
“We are fulfilling our mission of access, opportunity and diversity and not relying only on an applicant’s LSAT score but engaging in a holistic review with success,” said NIU Law Dean Cassandra L. Hill. “Many thanks to our bar preparation and support team, Associate Dean Jeanna Hunter and Professor Robert Jones, and all the NIU Law faculty, staff and alumni who support our graduates sitting for the bar exam.”
The article explains the author’s process in identifying over-performing and under-performing law schools. According to Kinsler’s research, “Statistically, students with higher undergraduate grade point averages (UGPA) and LSAT scores are more likely to pass the bar exam than students with lower UGPAs and LSAT scores. As a result, a predicted bar passage rate may be calculated for each law school based upon its UGPA and LSAT scores. Once a predicted bar passage rate is calculated, it is possible to determine which law schools are overperforming or underperforming in terms of preparing their students to pass the bar exam. In other words, it is possible to show which law schools are adding the most bar passage value to their students.”
