Rankings can be tricky but if done properly, they permit honest comparison of important outcomes across schools, according to School of Law Dean Peter B. "Bo" Rutledge.
"In that vein, I share with you news reported recently about bar passage outcomes. To provide some context, each year all law schools report bar passage rates. After those rates are publicly reported, they become the focus of number crunching. One report focuses on the delta between a school's first-time passage rate and the overall first-time passage rate for the state. That approach, while technical, helps to control for variations in overall passage rates across states."
Against that metric, the UGA School of Law ranked #1 in the country for 2019 outcomes, besting every other school in the country.
"Our graduates' success on bar examinations is a result of the efforts of many," he said. "I am grateful to the School of Law's Bar Pass committee for their hard work examining data and creating innovative strategies as well as our talented faculty for teaching our students the core materials needed to pass the exam. I am also grateful to the members of our law school community who donated funds that support bar prep stipends for students who desperately needed them."
He added, "As we continue to prepare our students for success and deliver on our promise to be the best return on investment in legal education in the country, I thank each of you who has supported - personally, professionally and financially - tomorrow's leaders."