The Class of 2025’s 91.96% first-time North Carolina Bar Examination passage rate far exceeds state average and marks continued rise in the School of Law’s student outcomes.
The Elon University School of Law Class of 2025 set a school record for first-time passage of the North Carolina Bar Examination, with a pass rate of 91.96%.
Results from the February 2026 exam were released Wednesday, April 1, by the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners. Elon Law’s result far exceeds the statewide first-time passage rate of 74.78% and the school’s previous high of 82%, set by Elon Law’s charter class in 2009.
The Class of 2025’s success reflects a sustained, school-wide focus on teaching, preparation, and student support, all aimed at helping graduates succeed not only on the bar exam, but in their legal careers.
“This is what Elon Law is all about,” said Zak Kramer, dean of Elon Law. “We’re in the dream-making business. The better our students perform, the faster they can begin making an impact as lawyers.”
An upward trajectory
In recent years, faculty and staff have aligned around the mission of excellence on the bar exam. They adopted a new motto and mindset: “One and Done.”
The gains are striking. First-time passage has climbed from 52.8% for the Class of 2021 to 91.96% for the Class of 2025, with steady increases along the way, including 79.4% for the Class of 2023, and 73.5% for the Class of 2024.
These efforts are part of a broader vision. Elon Law’s faculty continuously refine how they teach for real-world lawyering. The school’s 2.5-year J.D. program accelerates students’ path to the profession — with a December graduation and February bar exam — while reducing the cost of a legal education. Recognized nationally for practical training with an A+ rating from PreLaw Magazine, Elon Law prepares graduates to enter the profession with confidence and experience.
“We’re so proud of our students who took the bar,” said Jenny Lane, assistant dean for academic success. “We gave them the mission, ‘Commit, complete, conquer,’ and that’s exactly what they did.”
With its highest bar pass rate in recent history and a multi-year trend of steady growth, Elon Law is on a sustained upward trajectory.
“Big things are happening at Elon Law,” Kramer said, “and we’re just getting started.”
About Elon Law
Elon Law is the preeminent school for engaged and experiential learning in law. With a focus on learning by doing, it integrates traditional classroom instruction with a required residency-in-practice field placement for all full-time students during the winter or spring of their second year. The law school’s distinctive full-time curriculum provides a logically sequenced program of professional preparation and is accomplished in 2.5 years, which offers exceptional value by lowering tuition and permitting graduates early entry into their careers.
Elon Law has graduated nearly 2,000 alumni since opening its doors in downtown Greensboro in 2006. Its annual enrollment now tops 500 students. The law school is regularly featured in PreLaw Magazine’s “Best Schools for Practical Training” rankings, maintaining a Top 10 placement and an A+ rating each year since 2023. Elon Law was also among schools highlighted by Bloomberg Law in 2023 for its innovative approach to student development.
Elon University has applied to the American Bar Association to open a full-time, 2.5-year J.D. program in Charlotte beginning in fall 2027. The Elon Law Flex Program, a part-time, in-person program of legal study, launched there in 2024. Designed for students balancing work, family and other commitments to earn their J.D. in under four years, it enrolled its second cohort in fall 2025.