Two-year ultimate bar passage: every U.S. law school, ranked

Across the 194 ABA-accredited U.S. law schools that report two-year ultimate bar passage, the median is 91.13%. Values span from 100% at Marquette University School of Law to 57.47% at Cooley Law School, drawn from the most recent ABA Standard 509 disclosure cycle (trend data 2018–2025).

Schools reporting 194
Median 91.13%
25th–75th 85.545% – 95.06%
Range 57.47% – 100%

Distribution across 194 schools · median marked

Definition

What it is: Share of graduates who passed the bar within two years of graduating (the ABA 'ultimate' measure, which counts retakes).
Reported by: The American Bar Association, in each school’s annual Standard 509 Required Disclosure.
Unit: Percent

How to read it

The two-year rate counts retakes and is almost always higher than first-time; a wide gap between the two flags first-attempt struggles.

Every school, ranked

#	Law school	State	Two-year ultimate bar passage
1	University of Virginia School of Law	Virginia	100%
2	Baylor University School of Law	Texas	100%
3	Marquette University School of Law	Wisconsin	100%
4	University of Chicago Law School	Illinois	99.53%
5	Harvard Law School	Massachusetts	99.32%
6	Brigham Young University School of Law	Utah	99.13%
7	Duke University School of Law	North Carolina	99.06%
8	Yale Law School	Connecticut	99.01%
9	Columbia Law School	New York	99.01%
10	University of Notre Dame School of Law	Indiana	99.01%
11	University of Georgia School of Law	Georgia	98.95%
12	Stanford Law School	California	98.9%
13	New York University School of Law	New York	98.71%
14	University of Michigan Law School	Michigan	98.7%
15	William & Mary School of Law	Virginia	98.61%
16	UC Berkeley School of Law	California	98.58%
17	Northwestern Pritzker School of Law	Illinois	98.45%
18	Wake Forest University School of Law	North Carolina	98.45%
19	University of Illinois School of Law	Illinois	98.41%
20	University of Minnesota School of Law	Minnesota	98.22%
21	University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School	Pennsylvania	97.66%
22	University of Montana School of Law	Montana	97.5%
23	UCLA School of Law	California	96.98%
24	University of Kansas School of Law	Kansas	96.81%
25	Washington University (St. Louis) School of Law	Missouri	96.79%
26	Northeastern University School of Law	Massachusetts	96.74%
27	University of Washington School of Law	Washington	96.71%
28	Penn State Dickinson Law	Pennsylvania	96.7%
29	University of Texas School of Law	Texas	96.47%
30	University of Missouri School of Law	Missouri	96.47%
31	Fordham University School of Law	New York	96.39%
32	University of Utah School of Law	Utah	96.08%
33	Boston College School of Law	Massachusetts	96.05%
34	Texas Tech University School of Law	Texas	96.03%
35	Boston University School of Law	Massachusetts	96.02%
36	Washington and Lee University School of Law	Virginia	95.76%
37	University of Southern California School of Law	California	95.73%
38	University of Oklahoma School of Law	Oklahoma	95.73%
39	Vanderbilt Law School	Tennessee	95.48%
40	The George Washington University School of Law	District of Columbia	95.43%
41	University of Alabama School of Law	Alabama	95.42%
42	Emory University School of Law	Georgia	95.4%
43	Texas A&M University School of Law	Texas	95.38%
44	Cornell Law School	New York	95.31%
45	Chapman University School of Law	California	95.3%
46	Indiana University-Bloomington School of Law	Indiana	95.21%
47	Florida State University School of Law	Florida	95.17%
48	Duquesne University School of Law	Pennsylvania	95.12%
49	The Ohio State University School of Law	Ohio	95.08%
50	University of Akron School of Law	Ohio	95%
51	Temple University School of Law	Pennsylvania	94.83%
52	St. John's University School of Law	New York	94.81%
53	Georgia State University School of Law	Georgia	94.71%
54	University of North Carolina School of Law	North Carolina	94.62%
55	Regent University School of Law	Virginia	94.62%
56	Samford University School of Law	Alabama	94.52%
57	Arizona State University School of Law	Arizona	94.49%
58	Southern Methodist University School of Law	Texas	94.4%
59	Campbell University School of Law	North Carolina	94.19%
60	Georgetown University Law Center	District of Columbia	94.15%
61	George Mason University School of Law	Virginia	93.92%
62	Mercer University School of Law	Georgia	93.91%
63	Louisiana State University School of Law	Louisiana	93.64%
64	Florida International University School of Law	Florida	93.59%
65	University of Richmond School of Law	Virginia	93.55%
66	Drake University School of Law	Iowa	93.55%
67	Loyola Marymount University-Los Angeles School of Law	California	93.52%
68	Brooklyn Law School	New York	93.45%
69	South Texas College of Law Houston	Texas	93.36%
70	University of Arkansas School of Law	Arkansas	93.33%
71	Cleveland State University School of Law	Ohio	93.13%
72	Belmont University School of Law	Tennessee	93.04%
73	University of Arizona School of Law	Arizona	93.02%
74	University of Colorado School of Law	Colorado	92.9%
75	University of California-Davis School of Law	California	92.82%
76	Gonzaga University School of Law	Washington	92.74%
77	University of California-Irvine School of Law	California	92.7%
78	University of Houston School of Law	Texas	92.68%
79	Chicago-Kent, Illinois Institute of Technology School of Law	Illinois	92.57%
80	University of Florida School of Law	Florida	92.56%
81	University of New Mexico School of Law	New Mexico	92.5%
82	Atlanta's John Marshall Law School	Georgia	92.45%
83	University of South Dakota School of Law	South Dakota	92.31%
84	Seton Hall University School of Law	New Jersey	92.23%
85	University of Pittsburgh School of Law	Pennsylvania	91.8%
86	University of Cincinnati School of Law	Ohio	91.67%
87	University of San Diego School of Law	California	91.63%
88	Loyola University-Chicago School of Law	Illinois	91.57%
89	University of Iowa School of Law	Iowa	91.5%
90	Drexel University School of Law	Pennsylvania	91.5%
91	University of North Texas at Dallas School of Law	Texas	91.43%
92	University of Connecticut School of Law	Connecticut	91.37%
93	University of Kentucky School of Law	Kentucky	91.36%
94	Villanova University School of Law	Pennsylvania	91.26%
95	University of Nebraska School of Law	Nebraska	91.24%
96	Cardozo, Yeshiva University School of Law	New York	91.2%
97	University of Miami School of Law	Florida	91.14%
98	Pepperdine University School of Law	California	91.12%
99	Tulane University School of Law	Louisiana	90.75%
100	University of Oregon School of Law	Oregon	90.44%
101	Capital University Law School	Ohio	90.24%
102	University of New Hampshire School of Law	New Hampshire	90.09%
103	Wayne State University School of Law	Michigan	90%
104	New England Law/Boston	Massachusetts	89.96%
105	The Catholic University of America School of Law	District of Columbia	89.91%
106	University of California-San Francisco School of Law	California	89.67%
107	University of Tennessee School of Law	Tennessee	89.66%
108	Seattle University School of Law	Washington	89.64%
109	University of Maryland School of Law	Maryland	89.47%
110	Appalachian School of Law	Virginia	89.47%
111	Hofstra University School of Law	New York	89.33%
112	New York Law School	New York	89.31%
113	University of Denver School of Law	Colorado	89.18%
114	University of Nevada-Las Vegas School of Law	Nevada	89.15%
115	City University of New York School of Law	New York	89.01%
116	University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) School of Law	Minnesota	88.96%
117	Case Western Reserve University School of Law	Ohio	88.89%
118	Albany Law School	New York	88.68%
119	University of Maine School of Law	Maine	88.57%
120	Liberty University School of Law	Virginia	88.52%
121	Saint Louis University School of Law	Missouri	88.33%
122	University of Dayton School of Law	Ohio	88.1%
123	Faulkner University School of Law	Alabama	88.1%
124	University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law	Missouri	87.85%
125	Southwestern Law School	California	87.83%
126	Suffolk University School of Law	Massachusetts	87.75%
127	St. Thomas University (Miami) School of Law	Florida	87.68%
128	Howard University School of Law	District of Columbia	87.32%
129	DePaul University School of Law	Illinois	87.15%
130	University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law	Arkansas	87.14%
131	Elon University School of Law	North Carolina	87.1%
132	University of Wyoming School of Law	Wyoming	86.96%
133	University at Buffalo School of Law	New York	86.92%
134	University of Louisville School of Law	Kentucky	86.75%
135	University of South Carolina School of Law	South Carolina	86.67%
136	St. Mary's University School of Law	Texas	86.67%
137	Western New England University School of Law	Massachusetts	86.42%
138	Lewis & Clark Law School	Oregon	86.06%
139	University of the Pacific School of Law	California	86.01%
140	West Virginia University School of Law	West Virginia	86%
141	University of Mississippi School of Law	Mississippi	85.82%
142	University of Wisconsin School of Law	Wisconsin	85.71%
143	American University School of Law	District of Columbia	85.67%
144	Stetson University School of Law	Florida	85.6%
145	Rutgers University School of Law	New Jersey	85.56%
146	University of Toledo School of Law	Ohio	85.54%
147	Washburn University School of Law	Kansas	85.22%
148	Ave Maria School of Law	Florida	85.19%
149	University of Tulsa School of Law	Oklahoma	85.11%
150	Mitchell/Hamline School of Law	Minnesota	85.02%
151	Charleston School of Law	South Carolina	84.91%
152	Indiana University-Indianapolis School of Law	Indiana	84.62%
153	University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth School of Law	Massachusetts	84.34%
154	Lincoln Memorial University School of Law	Tennessee	83.54%
155	Santa Clara University School of Law	California	83.1%
156	University of San Francisco School of Law	California	83.09%
157	Northern Illinois University School of Law	Illinois	82.95%
158	Nova Southeastern University School of Law	Florida	82.93%
159	Ohio Northern University School of Law	Ohio	82.93%
160	University of Memphis School of Law	Tennessee	82.86%
161	Northern Kentucky University School of Law	Kentucky	82.86%
162	Mississippi College School of Law	Mississippi	82.52%
163	Syracuse University School of Law	New York	82.45%
164	Willamette University School of Law	Oregon	81.25%
165	Oklahoma City University School of Law	Oklahoma	81.16%
166	University of North Dakota School of Law	North Dakota	81.01%
167	North Carolina Central University School of Law	North Carolina	80.47%
168	Widener University Delaware Law School	Pennsylvania	80.43%
169	Loyola University-New Orleans School of Law	Louisiana	79.87%
170	Michigan State University School of Law	Michigan	79.82%
171	University of Hawaii School of Law	Hawaii	79.38%
172	University of Idaho School of Law	Idaho	78.98%
173	Quinnipiac University School of Law	Connecticut	78.81%
174	Southern Illinois University School of Law	Illinois	78.57%
175	Barry University School of Law	Florida	78.4%
176	University of Baltimore School of Law	Maryland	78.36%
177	Pace University School of Law	New York	78.22%
178	Touro University School of Law	New York	78%
179	University of Detroit Mercy School of Law	Michigan	77.88%
180	Creighton University School of Law	Nebraska	77.78%
181	University of Illinois-Chicago School of Law	Illinois	77.78%
182	University of Puerto Rico School of Law	Puerto Rico	77.61%
183	Vermont Law School	Vermont	76.3%
184	Roger Williams University School of Law	Rhode Island	76.16%
185	Texas Southern University School of Law	Texas	76%
186	Southern University School of Law	Louisiana	75.95%
187	Widener University Commonwealth Law School	Pennsylvania	75.56%
188	University of District of Columbia School of Law	District of Columbia	75%
189	California Western School of Law	California	73.95%
190	Florida A&M University School of Law	Florida	70.34%
191	Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Law	Puerto Rico	69.18%
192	Western State, Westcliff University School of Law	California	67.86%
193	Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law	Puerto Rico	62.03%
194	Cooley Law School	Michigan	57.47%

At the extremes

Top: University of Virginia School of Law (100%) · Baylor University School of Law (100%) · Marquette University School of Law (100%) · University of Chicago Law School (99.53%) · Harvard Law School (99.32%)

Bottom: Florida A&M University School of Law (70.34%) · Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Law (69.18%) · Western State, Westcliff University School of Law (67.86%) · Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law (62.03%) · Cooley Law School (57.47%)

FAQ

What is two-year ultimate bar passage?

Share of graduates who passed the bar within two years of graduating (the ABA 'ultimate' measure, which counts retakes).

What is the median two-year ultimate bar passage across U.S. law schools?

91.13%, across the 194 ABA-accredited schools that report it in the most recent ABA Standard 509 cycle.

Which law school has the highest two-year ultimate bar passage?

Marquette University School of Law, at 100%.

What counts as a strong two-year ultimate bar passage?

Schools above the median of 91.13% are above average; the top tenth begins around 98.052%.

How should I read two-year ultimate bar passage?