Eighty percent of Boyd School of Law graduates who took the Nevada Bar Exam for the first time in July passed the test, marking the fourth highest pass rate since the school was founded in 1998. Statewide, seventy-six percent of people who took the exam for the first time passed.

"This kind of success is testimony to our students, faculty, and our excellent Academic Success Program," said Daniel Hamilton, Dean of the Boyd School of Law. "Our rigorous curriculum prepares students for diverse challenges in practice - and for success on the bar."

Boyd School of Law's Academic Success Program is credited with helping students and alumni prepare for the bar exam through workshops, mock exams, and individual counseling sessions.

"Nevada's bar exam is widely regarded as one of the most difficult state bar exams, making these results all the more meaningful," said Jennifer Carr, director of the Academic Success Program. "Boyd's Academic Success Program is designed to equip students with the information and skills they'll need to pass the bar exam. We offer a level of individualized attention commercial bar preparation programs don't provide."

The Nevada Board of Bar Examiners released the results Oct. 22.

Among the results:

• 80 percent of UNLV law school graduates who took the exam for the first time passed the exam - 4 percent higher than Nevada's pass rate for first-time test takers.
• 77 out of 96 Boyd graduates who took the test for the first time passed. Statewide, 205 out of 268 people who took the exam for the first time passed.
• 74 percent of all Boyd test takers passed the exam. The pass rate is 8 percent higher than the state's overall pass rate for all test takers.

The Nevada bar is a three-day exam consisting of several Nevada essay questions, one or more Performance Test (MPT) problems, and a Multistate Bar Examination (MBE). The successful applicant must achieve a total scaled score of 75 on the exam as a whole, as well as passing at least three essays with a scaled score of 75.

The William S. Boyd School of Law has more than 450 students and offers three juris doctor degree programs: a full-time day program, a part-time day program, and a part-time evening program, and three dual degree programs: a J.D./MBA, a J.D./M.S.W. and a J.D./Ph.D. It is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the American Association of Law Schools, accomplishments it achieved in record time.