HARTFORD — Only 38 percent of law students passed the Connecticut bar exam earlier this year, the first time since 2000 that the pass rate for the February test fell below 50 percent.
The Connecticut Law Tribune reports the recently released exam results showed 74 of 195 students passed the exam. That was a decline of 12 percentage points from the February 2017 test, which 82 of 163 students passed. About 63 percent of students passed the February 2016 exam.
Educators and legal experts say the reasons for the drop-off aren’t clear. The administrative director of the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee, Jessica Kallipolites, says the results were surprising.
The average pass rate has been 65 percent for the February test and 75 percent for the test given every July since 2000.
