February 2023 Bar Passage Rates Drop
When the National Conference of Bar Examiners announced last month that the national mean for the February 2023 MBE fell 1.5 points compared to the February 2022 mean, I anticipated that bar passage rates would fall nationwide.
So far, that's been the case.
I compiled a listing that compares the February 2023 passage rates with the February 2022 passage rates from NCBE data. The NCBE has posted data for 21 jurisdictions so far.
Tennessee has the lowest overall bar passage rate for the February 2023 exam among all jurisdictions reporting so far at 35.62% when calculated out to the hundredths place. Maine has the second-lowest rate at 36.23%. (The NCBE data only lists the percentages to the nearest whole number, so it shows Tennessee and Maine as both having a 36% pass rate.)
Of the 21 jurisdictions reporting so far by the NCBE, only three jurisdictions saw an increase in overall passage rates compared to February 2022. A total of five jurisdictions increased first-time passage rates from February 2022 and February 2023, while seven jurisdictions saw an increase between the two exam administrations.
So far, bar pass rates have dropped an average of 6 percentage points for overall takers, 5 percentage points for for first-time takers, and 7 percentage points for repeat takers between the two February exams.
I'll update this post as the NCBE releases more data from other jurisdictions.
