Notre Dame Law School graduates pass the bar on the first attempt at a rate of about 88%, against a national first-time average of roughly 75 to 80%. That is a genuinely good number, but a bar passage rate is only as meaningful as the questions you ask of it: which state’s exam, measured over whom, and produced by what. This page is how to read the number like a buyer instead of an applicant.

The Notre Dame Law School Bar Numbers

MetricFigureContextFirst-time bar passage88%vs. ~77.5% national midpointNational first-time average~75 to 80%The comparison bandPrimary jurisdictionIndianaConfirm in the 509U.S. News rank#20Peer-tier context

Is Notre Dame Law School’s Bar Passage Rate Good?

Yes, 88% first-time passage sits clearly above the national average and signals a school whose academic program and incoming class are both doing their jobs. The honest qualifier: state mix matters, so verify the jurisdiction before comparing across schools.

The distance that matters: 10 points above the national midpoint at 88%, margin that survives jurisdiction adjustments in most states.

What a Bar Passage Rate Actually Measures

A bar passage rate is manufactured from three components. The raw material is the entering class, medians in, results out, more correlated than anyone’s marketing admits. The process is the curriculum: curves, writing volume, doctrinal coverage. And the quiet third factor is who gets counted: schools with aggressive academic attrition graduate a pre-filtered cohort, which flatters the rate without improving the teaching. Read all three before crediting any one.

Withheld Tip: compare the school’s rate to the state baselinenot the national one. A 74% rate in a state where the average sitter passes at 60% is excellent; the same 74% where the state average is 85% is a warning. The state bar examiners publish overall pass rates, two minutes of context that reorders most school comparisons.

Bar Prep, and the Exam That’s Changing

Notre Dame Law School’s bar prep apparatus will resemble the industry standard, commercial course partnerships, a readiness program, advising, and the differences that matter live in the details: what is subsidized, what is required, and when it begins. Make admissions name all three.

One forward-looking note belongs in every bar conversation now: the NextGen bar exam is rolling out across states through 2028, moving the test toward applied skills and integrated tasks. Schools differ in how seriously they are re-tooling for it, make “how is your bar prep changing for NextGen?” a standard admissions question and listen for specifics, not slogans.

One non-negotiable for evaluating any school: never accept a bar passage rate without its jurisdiction. A naked percentage is a marketing number; a percentage with a state attached is data.

If You Only Do 3 Things

1. Download the school’s current ABA 509 disclosure and read the bar passage breakdown by jurisdiction yourself.
2. Confirm the measured state matches where you intend to practice, and if it doesn’t, find your state’s line before this number influences anything.
3. Ask admissions precisely what bar prep support consists of: which courses are subsidized, what the readiness program requires, and when it starts.

Notre Dame Law School Bar Passage: Quick Answers

What is Notre Dame Law School’s bar passage rate?

Roughly 88% on the first attempt, above the national first-time average of roughly 75 to 80%. Treat the figure as jurisdiction-specific until the 509 says otherwise, and read it across years, not in isolation.

Why do bar passage rates differ so much between schools?

Different inputs, different exams, different denominators. Admitted-student medians drive much of it; state difficulty drives more; and attrition policy quietly shapes who gets counted. Strip those out and the remaining gap, the part that is actually about teaching, is smaller than the raw numbers suggest.

Does a high bar passage rate mean better teaching?

Sometimes. A strong rate built on strong inputs and low attrition is the genuine article; a strong rate built on heavy academic dismissal is a denominator trick. The 509 lets you tell the difference in about ten minutes.

Related Playbooks

• The Law School Admissions Timeline

Lovare’s Take

The bar exam is the final feedback loop of a process that started with your diagnostic LSAT. Schools with honest numbers survive the questions on this page; schools with marketing numbers don’t. Reading outcomes data skeptically isn’t cynicism, it’s the first legal skill.