California Bar Trustees Grapple With ‘Predatory’ Law Schools

A California Bar Trustee called state-accredited and unaccredited law schools “predatory” after a report showed their students pass the bar exam at significantly lower rates than their American Bar Association-accredited counterparts.

Although these schools are known for their affordability and student bodies’ racial diversity, they aren’t proving to be a reliable pipeline for diversifying California’s legal field, the trustees heard Thursday.

Bar exam pass rates are 9% for unaccredited law schools and 21% for California accredited law schools—sharply lower than the 67% pass rate for ABA-approved schools, according to data presented at the meeting. About half of students leave these ...