FIU law grads most likely to pass the bar

Florida International University law school graduates have a lot to be excited about.

For the third bar exam in a row, FIU students had the highest rate of passing the exam that lets them practice law in Florida. This round, 87.5 percent of FIU students who took the notoriously difficult exam in July passed it — nearly 20 percent points above the average passage rate. In February, they led with 84.6 percent passage, and last July 89 percent of them passed.

Of the 11 Floridian law schools on the list, FIU was followed by the University of Miami law school at 80.6 percent and Stetson University College of Law at 80.5 percent.

Alexander Acosta, FIU’s law dean, said he’s “ecstatic and incredibly proud of our students.” He credits the students’ motivation and the talent of professors for the high marks. Acosta said his “highly personalized” law program is the kind where everyone knows each other’s name.

While FIU ranks highly in percentage of students who pass the bar, it’s among the lower class sizes on the list. The University of Florida tops the list with 266 students who took the bar and 209 who passed. FIU, with 112 students who took the exam and 98 students who passed, ranks ninth on the list of number of students who took the bar.

This story was originally published September 21, 2016 at 4:25 PM with the headline "FIU law grads most likely to pass the bar."