When I speak with prospective students, I am asked about the differences between St. Francis School of Law and other online law schools. The differences are many, including live face to face, voice to voice classes, our focus on professional lawyering skills, and our experienced faculty members. One of the big differences I always mention is our resources and curriculum devoted to bar passage, including both the First Year Law Students’ Exam and the General Bar Exam.
St. Francis, unlike other online law schools, offers courses for credit that provide students with critical support for bar passage. The courses include extensive practice and review materials, and most importantly, mock exams. For the FYLSE, a one day exam covering three subjects, St. Francis has created a 10 week class in which students practice and receive extensive feedback, as well as multiple mock exams, leading to our 100% first time bar pass rate on the most recent exam, and a 78% cumulative rate. Compare these statistics with other programs.
For the General Bar Exam, we have a series of two six week courses, covering every subject in the curriculum, including numerous practice and mock exams. The course also includes performance exams, so that students can practice and prepare. Students completing the courses will be fully prepared for the rigor of the California exam.
We realize that, for many of our students who work, commercial bar preparation courses alone are not optimal. We’ve filled this gap, by creating bar preparation courses that are paced appropriately for our working students. Our goal is that every student pass the exams on their first attempt. While our program is very well rounded and focuses on preparing students to become practicing attorneys, we also realize that exam success is critical to that goal. We are here to support your success.
-Dean Carole J. Buckner