Eugene, Ore. – Alumni of the School of Law who sat for the bar exam for the first time this July achieved a pass rate of 83 percent in Oregon and 100 percent pass rate in Washington. These rates exceed the statewide average pass rate in Oregon by five percent and in Washington by nearly 21 percent.
“I’m thrilled that Oregon Law graduates performed well on the recent bar exam and wish to extend congratulations to each of our successful applicants to the bar,” said Marcilynn Burke, dean and Dave Frohnmayer chair in leadership and law. “With the help of faculty, administrators, and staff who invested in our students and supported them right up and through the exam, our graduates worked incredibly hard and outperformed statewide statistics.”
Nationally, bar pass averages for the multi-state bar exam have been at a 34-year low this year, as reported by Law.com. Across the country, pass rates for July 2018 applicants to the bar have ranged from two to 13 percent lower than they were in July 2017. Statewide in Oregon, first-time and overall bar passage rates each dropped nearly six percentage points between 2017 and 2018.
July 2018 and 2017 Bar Pass Results in Oregon
| First-Time Applicants | 83% | 78% |
| All Applicants | 79% | 73% |
| First-Time Applicants | 84.8% | 83.6% |
| All Applicants | 83.5% | 79% |
July 2018 and 2017 Bar Pass Results in Washington
| First-Time Applicants | 100% | 79.1% |
| All Applicants | 83.3% | 72.4% |
| First-Time Applicants | 83.3% | 78.9% |
| All Applicants | 77.8% | 76.0% |
