A commenter with access to apparently better information than I have passes this along:
I believe the actual CA bar passage rate among blacks who graduated from UCLA Law last year is likely about 73%.I came up with this figure based on an e-mail list to which I have access. According to this list there were 17 black students who graduated last year. However, based on my own personal knowledge I was able remove three students who took the bar in another state and three others who did not sit for the exam.
Of the 11 remaining students, 8 of them passed, making the passage rate 72.7%.
I appreciate the clarification. If true, that puts the UCLA black / white bar passage gap at about 17 points. Better than 22 to 36 points. But not as good as zero. African-American students pay for a UCLA education but only get Loyola-level pass rates.
26 Nov 06
I haven't take statistics, but isn't it reaching a bit to draw conclusions based on a 17 point gap in such a small sample.
Posted by: at November 26, 2006 09:33 PMThat's true when you're using a sample to extrapolate conclusions about a larger population. But this isn't a sample. There were only 17 students of interest.
If you're suggesting the gap might vary quite a bit year to year because UCLA's minority enrollment is relatively small, I'm sure that's true. Determining that there was a 17 point gap this year doesn't tell us what happened last year, or what will happen next year. It would be nice to see a multi-year trend, but that data isn't available.
I'm also curious about the "three others who did not sit for the exam". Statistically, minority students are more likely to never take a bar exam after graduation. (If you're interested, I can post specific figures.) That doesn't affect bar passage rates, but it does affect minority representation in the legal profession, since a student who never takes a bar exam obviously will never practice as a lawyer. No one has explained why this happens.
These three students may intend to take a bar exam later, but it's worth noticing.
Posted by: MB at November 26, 2006 09:49 PM