Summit’s Bar passage rate still lags peers

On-probation law school struggles to top 30% mark

A private law school in Phoenix recently put on probation by the American Bar Association has seen its passage rate improve on the latest round of the State Bar exam but is still struggling to get above 30 percent.

Arizona Summit Law School saw nearly 30 percent of its first-time test takers pass the exam in February after dropping to 25 percent last year.

Of the 88 people taking the exam for the first time in February, 26 passed, according to results released Monday by the Arizona Supreme Court.

Arizona State University and University of Arizona law schools both posted a 74 percent passage rate.

Arizona Summit had a 17 percent passage rate for those taking the test more than once, compared with 53 percent at UA and 46 percent at ASU.

Arizona Summit Interim Dean Penny Willrich said in a statement that the school has made major changes over the past 18 months that have resulted in pass increases on the state Bar exam.

“We are comfortable that Bar examination results will continue to improve and revert to previous levels of excellence,” she said.

The 300-student Arizona Summit once boasted state Bar exam passage rates as high as 97 percent, but has seen its rates decline in recent years. The exam is given twice a year in Arizona, in February and July.

The American Bar Association put Arizona Summit Law School on probation in March for being out of compliance on State Bar exam passage rates,

admission practices and academic standards and support.

ABA officials directed the school to develop an improvement plan and will review the school’s admissions data and the overall rigor of the program.

In a letter sent to the school in March, the Bar said the law school is now in a position where “only immediate and substantial action can bring about sufficient change to put the Law School on a realistic path back to being in compliance within the time allowed.”

The ABA expects to review the school’s progress in November. The ABA looks at exam-passage rates over time, so it’s not clear yet how the latest test results will factor into the school’s probation.

School officials have said they are not in a position to make extensive comments on the ABA’s decision. However, the school’s president, Donald Lively, said in a statement in March that, “I can say that we will continue to be taking the steps required by the ABA to demonstrate full compliance with its standards.”

School officials said recently that they have made several changes aimed at improving State Bar exam passage, including shrinking the student body and ending a controversial program that allowed some students with lower Law School Admission Test results to gain entrance after completing a pre-enrollment program.

School officials announced in early March an affiliation with a non-profit university, Bethune-Cookman, that they hope will benefit students by being able to use the school’s academic support services and marketing.

Arizona Summit is one of three schools owned by a for-profit company, InfiLaw Corp.

The other schools are in North Carolina and Florida.

Summit’s sister school, the Charlotte School of Law, was put on probation by the ABA last year for two years because of concerns over its bar exam passage rates.

The U.S. Department of Education in December also yanked the Charlotte school’s eligibility for students to receive federal student loans.

All three InfiLaw schools were founded more than a decade ago with the mission of diversifying the legal profession, and Arizona Summit has won awards for its diverse student population, which is about 43 percent minority students.

School officials have said many of Summit’s students come to law school in a “catch-up mode.” Some are from poor families, who haven’t had access to good education systems.

But law-school watchdogs have questioned whether Arizona Summit admitted too many students.

The school was founded in 2004 and was formerly known as the Phoenix School of Law.

It once had as many as 1,000 students as it admitted more students with lower Law School Admission Test scores.