2026 Minimum Cumulative Five-Year Bar Examination Pass Rates for California Accredited Law Schools

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Terk

Report details the 2026 Minimum Cumulative Five-Year Bar Examination Pass Rates (MPR) for California Accredited Law Schools, covering graduates completing JD from August 1, 2020 through July 31, 2025. It explains that CALS must maintain a five-year cumulative bar pass rate minimum of 40% or more per Rule 4.160(D)(6), reported on July 1, with verification and posting by the State Bar in August. Unaccredited schools have no such requirement, while ABA-approved schools must maintain a 75% two-year cumulative pass rate.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

2026 MPR Overview

Reporting Period and Requirements

Minimum Pass Rate Thresholds

Two-Year Cumulative Pass Rate Requirement

School-by-School MPR Table

ATTACHMENT A OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS 2026 Minimum Cumulative Five-Year Bar Examination Pass Rates for California Accredited Law Schools (MPR) Five-Year Reporting Period for Graduates Completing JD: August 1, 2020–July 31, 2025 California Accredited Law Schools (CALS) must “maintain a minimum,[five-year] cumulative bar examination pass rate” of 40 percent or more, as calculated under Rule 4 . 160(D)(6) of the Accredited Law School Rules. CALS report this minimum pass rate (MPR) on July 1 and the State Bar posts these figures in August after they are verified and presented to the Committee of Bar Examiners. Unaccredited law schools are not required to maintain a minimum bar pass rate. Law schools approved by the American Bar Association must maintain a 75 percent two-year cumulative pass rate under standard 316. | California Accredited Law School | 2018
MPR
(%) | 2019
MPR
(%) | 2020
MPR
(%) | 2021
MPR
(%) | 2022
MPR
(%) | 2023
MPR
(%) | 2024
MPR
(%) | 2025
MPR
(%) | 2026
MPR
(%) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Cal Northern School of Law | 72.9 | 73.9 | 71.1 | 75.7 | 67.5 | 69.2 | 74.4 | 78.4 | 71.4 | | Empire College School of Law * | 55.4 | 46.9 | 46.1 | 59.3 | 58.2 | 65.3 | 73.2 | 83.1 | 78.8 | | Golden Gate University School of Law | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 78.0 | | Humphreys College Laurence Drivon School of Law | 45.6 | 41.9 | 46.0 | 52.3 | 54.1 | 50.7 | 55.2 | 73.1 | 72.2 | | JFK School of Law at National University | 48.8 | 44.4 | 39.7 | 41.9 | 42.0 | 41.2 | 45.7 | 60.0 | 52.3 | | Lincoln Law School of Sacramento | 66.7 | 60.8 | 60.1 | 66.3 | 69.6 | 68.0 | 67.0 | 81.4 | 77.6 | | Lincoln Law School of San Jose | 56.1 | 44.1 | 31.5 | 36.5 | 36.1 | — | 45.9 | 53.1 | 57.1 | | Monterey College of Law | 47.9 | 54.3 | 53.7 | 53.8 | 55.1 | 55.8 | 52.3 | 61.2 | 57.8 | | Northwestern California University School of Law | — | — | — | 58.3 | 65.0 | 65.9 | 70.9 | 82.0 | 76.5 | | California Accredited Law School | 2018
MPR
(%) | 2019
MPR
(%) | 2020
MPR
(%) | 2021
MPR
(%) | 2022
MPR
(%) | 2023
MPR
(%) | 2024
MPR
(%) | 2025
MPR
(%) | 2026
MPR
(%) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Purdue Global Law School | — | — | — | 56.3 | 58.5 | 69.6 | 74.3 | 76.8 | 69.3 | | San Joaquin College of Law | 77.4 | 72.4 | 68.8 | 77.7 | 76.3 | 79.7 | 78.2 | 85.1 | 83.3 | | St. Francis School of Law | — | — | — | 59.3 | 66.6 | 69.4 | 73.0 | 66.7 | 58.3 | | The Colleges of Law | 58.9 | 57.7 | 58.0 | 65.4 | 62.4 | 57.2 | 59.4 | 68.1 | 65.6 | | Thomas Jefferson School of Law | 70.5 | 67.4 | 61.7 | 65.6 | 65.7 | 64.6 | 54.3 | 61.4 | 58.5 | | Trinity Law School | 44.6 | 44.7 | 44.1 | 47.3 | 47.3 | 51.2 | 52.3 | 53.8 | 56.6 | | University of La Verne College of Law | — | 69.0 | 66.0 | 75.1 | 72.4 | 69.9 | 74.1 | 81.0 | 74.4 | | University of West Los Angeles | 54.1 | 50.0 | 41.8 | 49.4 | 49.3 | 43.5 | 45.3 | 57.6 | 53.4 | *Voluntarily closing and no longer admitting students.

FAQs

What is the five-year reporting period for the graduates covered by this MPR data?

The five-year reporting period runs from August 1, 2020 to July 31, 2025 for graduates completing the JD.

What minimum five-year cumulative bar examination pass rate must California Accredited Law Schools maintain?

California Accredited Law Schools must maintain a minimum five-year cumulative bar examination pass rate of 40% or more, calculated under Rule 4.160(D)(6).

How do requirements differ for unaccredited law schools and ABA-approved law schools?

Unaccredited law schools are not required to maintain a minimum bar pass rate, while ABA-approved law schools must maintain a 75% two-year cumulative pass rate under standard 316.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Terk