Not clearing the bar

FAMU law school grads continue to bomb the Florida Bar exam. Eleven of 21 students who took the test in February passed, an anemic success rate of 52.4 percent, according to results released Monday. That's down from 57.1 percent for FAMU grads in February 2006 and 52.9 percent in July 2006.

As the law school seeks accreditation, that's not good news. FAMU Provost Debra Austin told trustees at last week's emergency meeting that recruitment, retention and bar passage were three major areas of concern identified by the American Bar Association's accreditation team. "As you know, we can do better in all of those areas," she said.

On the February test, Florida International University topped all 10 law schools in Florida with a 94.4 percent pass rate.

UF - with the state's biggest law school - came in at 83.8 percent. FSU, at 88.2 percent. The only school that did worse than FAMU: Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. Only 48 percent of its grads passed.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter