Sturm College of Law News
The Results Are In! July 2008 Bar Pass Results
October 09, 2008
A Message from Dean Juárez
Please join me in congratulating the graduates of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law (SCOL) who passed the July 2008 Colorado bar examination! Click here for a complete list of those who passed the examination.
The passage rate for SCOL graduates taking the July 2008 bar examination for the first time was 83%. The Colorado Board of Law Examiners reports the following preliminary passage rates for graduates of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law who took the Colorado bar examination in July 2008:
| Examinees | Passed | Failed | Total |
| First Time | 178 (83%) | 36 (17%) | 214 |
| Repeat | 15 (27%) | 40 (73%) | 55 |
| All | 193 (72%) | 76 (28%) | 269 |
The preliminary passage rate for all first-time Colorado bar exam takers was 85%. For a complete list of other law schools’ passage rates, please click here.
Every year a small number of bar takers successfully appeal their failing grade. These July 2008 results are therefore preliminary and subject to revision.
In July 2007, 80% of all DU graduates taking the Colorado bar examination for the first time passed, while 81% of our May 2007 graduates who took the July 2007 bar exam passed. This 81% bar passage rate equaled the passage rate for all who took the July 2007 Colorado bar exam – the first time in many years that DU graduates had matched the overall passage rate. Bar passage rates will fluctuate up or down from year to year. It is heartening, however, to see that passage rates for SCOL graduates continue to improve. The continuing upward trend in the passage rate of our graduates this past July demonstrates that the reforms we have instituted over the past two years at the SCOL, coupled with the hard work of our graduates, have paid off.
These improvements have been achieved through sustained efforts. Shortly after my
arrival at the SCOL in 2006, I informed the law school community that the key to improving our bar passage rate was to use data to identify any factors that explain why some of our graduates were not passing the bar. I focused our bar passage efforts in three areas: (1) admissions, to ensure we are admitting students who are capable of passing the bar; (2) the College of Law’s educational program, to ensure we are providing our students with the knowledge and skills they need to pass the bar; and (3) a post-graduation bar preparation program, to assist our graduates who are about to take the bar exam.
In the fall of 2006 I appointed a faculty Bar Passage Committee and asked the Committee to utilize statistical studies conducted by Professors Sam Kamin and Joyce Sterling to propose a comprehensive bar passage program for consideration by the full faculty. I worked with this Committee, chaired by Professor Jay Brown, to develop a bar passage program that was approved by the entire law faculty in April 2007.
Our Bar Passage Program includes the following:
- Immediate exclusion of students with a grade point average below a 2.0 at the end of any semester, including the first semester of law school.
- An increase in the minimum grade point average from 2.2 to 2.3. Students with a grade point average between 2.0 and 2.3 have two semesters in which to achieve a grade point average of 2.3 or above.
- Students with a grade point average below 2.6 at the end of any semester must meet with the director of the Academic Achievement Program to develop a plan for academic improvement.
- Students with a grade point average above 2.3 but below a 2.6 must:
- Take Intermediate Legal Analysis in the second year.
- With the exception of one course per semester, enroll in courses selected from a list approved by the faculty.
- Take Legal Analysis Strategies in the final semester of law school.
The SCOL has hired two faculty in the Academic Achievement Program (Professors Scott Johns and Susannah Pollvogt) to assist students with bar passage. In addition to teaching the Intermediate Legal Analysis and Legal Analysis Strategies courses, these professors, together with other members of the SCOL faculty, offer a series of bar preparation workshops free of charge to SCOL graduates. The Bar Success Program offers strategic workshops, mock bar exams, individual consultations and timely feedback on writing assignments in the two-month study period immediately prior to the bar examination. Students participating in the Bar Success Program in the summer of 2007 scored an average of four points higher on the essay questions on the bar exam than non-participants.
The Bar Passage Program approved by the faculty also recommended limiting the number of applicants admitted with low LSAT scores, and requiring that such students complete a summer preparation course prior to beginning their first-year studies, steps that we had already implemented for the class entering in the fall of 2007. For the class entering in the fall of 2005, 25% of the class had a LSAT score of 152 or below. For the class entering this fall, 25% of the class had a LSAT score of 155 or below.
Undergraduate grade point averages have also increased significantly. For the class entering in the fall of 2005, 25% of the class had an undergraduate grade point average of 2.89 or below. For the class entering this fall, 25% of the class had an undergraduate grade point average of 3.21 or below.
The SCOL has continued to analyze the performance of our graduates on the bar examination. In the fall of 2007, the Board of Trustees formed a Bar Passage Committee that included alumni representatives. With the assistance of Corona Research, a consulting firm, the Board of Trustees Bar Passage Committee produced additional statistical analyses of the performance of our graduates on the Colorado bar examination. Using data from 2001 to 2007, the Committee provided numerous valuable recommendations that have been incorporated into the College of Law’s Bar Passage Program. Additional work has been undertaken since July 2008 by the Next Steps Committee, a committee that includes law faculty, law staff, members of the Board of Trustees, and alumni.
This committee, which is also working with Corona Research, has undertaken additional statistical analyses and will use these analyses to make recommendations to the College of Law regarding admissions, financial aid, student advising, and bar passage.
The continued improvement of the performance of DU Law graduates on the bar examination is attributable to the collective efforts of many individuals and groups. In the next few days we will analyze the performance of our graduates who took the July 2008 bar exam to refine our programs. We will continue to work to ensure that all our students are fully prepared to pass the bar examination.
I encourage all students planning to take the February 2009 bar examination to register now for the DU Bar Success Program at http://www.law.du.edu/index.php/barprep. I also encourage any graduates who did not pass the July 2008 bar examination to take advantage of this important resource.
I look forward to congratulating our February 2009 bar takers!