Statewide chatter surrounding the February Florida Bar Examination could send prospective law students south.
Exam results revealed a UF passing rate of only 64.9 percent, the lowest in school history, according to Fredric G. Levin College of Law dean Robert Jerry.
FIU celebrated a passing rate of 81.5 percent.
According to U.S. News and World Report, UF's law school ranks 51st in the nation, ranks first in the state and has a graduation rate nearing 99 percent.
The reason for the poor Bar passage is simple, Jerry said in response to those reveling in their statistical stride past UF.
Three years ago, the college began to accept only one entering class per year, eliminating the spring class and leaving the students less time to prepare for the exam.
As a result, the three-year program had only a handful of students complete their studies in time to take the February exam, Jerry said.
"I can say with confidence that for any school to make assertions of quality based on 16 students taking a bar exam is misleading," he said.
Florida State University received a similar 65 percent passing rate, with 26 of 40 graduates passing. The University of Miami had 22 of 36 graduates pass, a 61.1 percent success rate, according to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.
"It's the law of large numbers, and it's the perversity of using small numbers," he said, citing high passing rates in recent years.
In February 2008, 158 of 179 students passed for a rate of 88.3 percent, 14.5 percent above the state average, Jerry said.
On last July's exam, 89.4 percent of testers passed, placing UF 7.6 percent above the state average.
"Year in and year out, UF has the most consistently high passing rate in the state of Florida," he said.
Jerry said in the future, struggling students will be encouraged to complete additional studies and preparation prior to taking the Florida Bar Exam.
The Florida Bar Examination is a two-part assessment, consisting of a General Bar Examination, specific to Florida state laws, as well as the Multistate Bar Examination and Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination section.
Eighty percent of UF graduates passed the multistate portion of the exam in February.
There is no way to determine group performance on particular areas of subject matter within the General Bar Examination.
UF law is confident that the February results will not damage the school's reputation, Jerry said.
"We're always trying to enroll the best that we can and have the highest student quality that we can," he said. "Students are proud to have graduated from this school."
