Graduates of the University of Illinois College of Law achieved a 96% first-time-taker bar passage rate on the July 2017 administration of the Illinois bar exam, up from 91% for the July 2016 exam, and exceeding the overall statewide pass rate for first-time takers of 80% by 16 percentage points.
“We are heartened that our students continue to do exceptionally well on the bar exam, and they deserve the lion’s share of the credit for this outstanding achievement. The College of Law faculty and staff do have a tradition of working hard to provide our graduates with the tools needed to thrive in the profession, and we’re pleased that in an era when first-time pass rates have generally been declining in most jurisdictions and at most law schools, our graduates have improved their performance on the Illinois bar in each of the past three years,” said Vikram Amar, dean of the College of Law.