Bar Exam Scores Lowest In Decades

Bar exam scores in July sunk to the lowest levels in more than 25 years, according to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, adding to concerns after a historic plunge in bar exam passage last year. The average score for July 2015 fell to 139.9, about 4.4 points lower than the July 2013 average. “It was not unexpected,” Erica Moeser, president of the NCBE, told Bloomberg Business. “We are in a period where we can expect to see some decline, until the market for going to law school improves.” Many law deans sought to blame the NCBE for the low scores last year, blaming how the exam was prepared and scored, but Moeser believes the scores are the inevitable result of law schools accepting less qualified applicants. “Over the course of the past year, the analysis pointed to the probability that the scores earned in July 2015 would represent the continuation of a downward slide, and that is what we can now confirm,” she said.