Duquesne Kline School of Law ranked in the top 50 for Ultimate Bar Passage

The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar released this data on March 12, 2025, and it is made public under ABA Standard 509. Admission to the bar is one measure that the national accreditation agency recognizes as a measure of how well law schools prepare their students for the legal profession.

This year’s law school ultimate bar passage rate includes all 2022 graduates who sat for a bar examination and passed within two years of graduation, and includes graduates admitted to a bar via alternative pathways to graduation. 

“This is especially impressive for our law school because a majority of our graduates sit for the bar exam in Pennsylvania,” said Director of Bar Studies and Associate Professor Ashley London. “We had zero students admitted through alternative pathways, so this result represents graduates who sat for and passed a rigorous bar examination.”

Duquesne Kline School of Law is also one of only three Pennsylvania-based law schools ranked in the top 50. There are eight Pennsylvania-based law schools in this calculation. 

“These rankings represent more than just numbers, they reflect the quality of our academic programming, the effectiveness of our bar preparation initiatives, and most importantly, the success of our graduates. Being consistently ranked in the upper tiers nationally demonstrates that our strategic focus on bar readiness continues to yield impressive results,” said London.

Duquesne Kline School of Law boasts a 2022 Ultimate Bar pass rate of 95.12%, which is higher than many 2025 U.S. News & World Report top 50 law schools. Further, this rate is five percentage points higher than the 90.14% aggregate ultimate bar passage rate for 2022 graduates across the country. 

“Our faculty alumni and administration remain committed to assisting our graduates with fully funded and staffed programming through several administrations of the bar. We thank them for their ongoing support and dedication to Duquesne Kline School of Law. Together, we are elevating the profile and impact of our institution,” said Associate Director of Bar Studies and Assistant Professor April Milburn-Knizer.

Duquesne Kline School of Law has consecutively outperformed national averages in bar and employment results. Recently the Duquesne Kline School of Law class of 2024 employment numbers were reported by the ABA, with 94.9% employed or pursuing a graduate degree, placing Duquesne Kline School of Law 4.6% higher than the national average employment results of all ABA-approved law schools. 

These high employment and bar passage rates have been instrumental in Duquesne Kline School of Law maintaining its prestigious top 100 U.S. News & World Report ranking for three consecutive years. In the most recent U.S. News & World Report's 2025-2026 Best Law Schools rankings, Duquesne Kline School of Law rose two places, securing the #92 position among 196 ranked law schools nationwide.