Northern Illinois University College of Law - 2025 First-Time Bar Admission - Bar Pass Rates by Graduation Year

Sep 21, 2026

Northern Illinois University College of Law-2025 presents first-time bar admission outcomes by graduation year, listing totals of graduates, bar exam timing (before and after graduation), takers, non-takers, and first-time takers from prior graduation years. The report includes passers, law school pass rates, ABA weighted averages, and the difference between them, plus alternative pathway admission counts. Additional jurisdiction-level details for 2024, 2023, and 2022 break down takers, passers, pass percentages, state pass rates for ABA-approved schools, and the pass-rate gaps.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

First-Time Bar Admission

Summary by Graduation Year

Jurisdiction Details (2024)

Jurisdiction Details (2023)

Jurisdiction Details (2022)

Two-Year Ultimate Bar Admission

Ultimate Admission Results by Graduation Year

Northern Illinois University College of Law-2025 Phone: (815) 753-1068 Website: [https://www.niu.edu/law/](https://www.niu.edu/law/) First-Time Bar Admission | Calendar year of graduation | Graduatesin the calendar year | Graduates who took the bar exam before graduation* | Graduates who took bar exam after
graduation* | Grads who have
not
taken the bar | Grads with no bar info | First time takers from prior gradyears | Total firsttime takers | Total who passed the bar | Law school bar pass rate** | ABA weighted average bar pass
rate*** | Difference in bar pass rate**** | Graduates admitted
via
alternative pathways to licensure
***** | Total First
Time Bar Admission
Rate: first time takers and alternative pathways to licensure | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2024 | 96 | 0 | 74 | 22 | 0 | 17 | 91 | 52 | 57.14% | 78.65% | -21.51% | 0 | 57.14% | | 2023 | 95 | 0 | 74 | 21 | 0 | 15 | 89 | 53 | 59.55% | 78.09% | -18.54% | 0 | 59.55% | | 2022 | 89 | - | - | 16 | 0 | 26 | 99 | 58 | 58.59% | 75.32% | -16.73% | 0 | 58.59% | *For 2022, the ABA did not collect information about "graduates who took the bar exam before graduation" and "graduates who took the bar exam after graduation" as it does currently, so those data fields are not included in this report. **Law School pass rate is how the Law School’s graduates performed across all jurisdictions where they took the bar examination for the first time. ***The ABA weighted average bar pass rate is the average pass rate for graduates from ABA-accredited law schools for each jurisdiction in which the Law School’s graduates sat for the bar exam. This number is weighted so that bar pass rates from jurisdictions where more of the Law School’s graduates sat for the bar exam have a greater impact on the ABA weighted average bar pass rate than bar pass rates from jurisdictions where fewer of the Law School’s graduates sat for the bar exam. ****The difference between the Law School pass rate and the ABA weighted average bar pass rate compares the performance of the Law School’s graduates on the bar exam in all jurisdictions where they took the bar exam for the first time with the performance of graduates from all ABA-accredited law schools on the bar exam in those same jurisdictions. ***** Starting with the 2025 Bar Admission Outcome report, graduates pursuing alternative pathways to bar licensure were no longer reported both in the category with graduates who did not take a bar exam and in the category of graduates admitted via alternative pathways. This change is reflected for 2024 graduates in the First-Time Bar Admission table, but does not impact the Total First-Time Bar Admission Rate. Details 2024: | Jurisdiction | Takers | Passers | Pass % | State Pass % for ABA approved law schools | Difference | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | ILLINOIS | 78 | 45 | 57.69% | 78.64% | -20.95% | | 9 REMAINING JURISDICTIONS | 13 | 7 | 53.85% | 79.08% | -25.23% | Details 2023: | Jurisdiction | Takers | Passers | Pass % | State Pass % for ABA approved law schools | Difference | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | ILLINOIS | 77 | 49 | 63.64% | 78.28% | -14.64% | | 10 REMAINING JURISDICTIONS | 12 | 4 | 33.33% | 77.60% | -44.27% | Details 2022: | Jurisdiction | Takers | Passers | Pass % | State Pass % for ABA approved law schools | Difference | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | ILLINOIS | 75 | 45 | 60.00% | 75.01% | -15.01% | | 14 REMAINING JURISDICTIONS | 24 | 13 | 54.17% | 77.60% | -23.43% | Two-Year Ultimate Bar Admission | Calendar year of graduation | Total graduates in calendar year | \# of grads with no info | \# who did not take a bar | Graduates who sat for a bar exam within two years of their date of graduation | | | Graduates who have been admitted via an alternative pathway to licensure* | Ultimate Bar Admission Rate Total %(incl. alternative pathways) | | --- | ---

FAQs

What does the report measure in the First-Time Bar Admission section?

It measures first-time bar exam takers and outcomes by graduation year, including passers, law school pass rate, ABA weighted average pass rate, and the difference between them.

How are law school and ABA weighted average pass rates compared?

The report calculates the difference between the Law School pass rate and the ABA weighted average bar pass rate across jurisdictions where the graduates took the bar for the first time.

What additional information is provided beyond first-time results?

It also provides jurisdiction-level details for 2024, 2023, and 2022, and includes a separate Two-Year Ultimate Bar Admission section with ultimate admission rates by graduation year.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Lucas Vance