LANSING, Mich. – Cooley Law School has been placed on probation by the American Bar Association.
“Cooley has recently had a hearing with the ABA Council on Legal Education regarding our non-compliance with Standard 316 which requires that at least 75 percent of a law school’s graduates in a calendar year who sat for a bar examination must have passed a bar examination administered within two years of their date of graduation,” the school posted on its website. “We asked for an extension of time to return to compliance. Instead of an extension of time, they placed us on probation, which effectively extended our time to return to compliance until February 2026.”
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The page says that over 75% of Cooley’s graduates who graduated in 2024 and took the Bar have passed, but the Council on Legal Education doesn’t view the school as currently in compliance because results are unknown for some graduates who didn’t take the exam before July 2025.
“While we cannot predict the future, Cooley is confident that when the nationwide results of the July 2025 bar examination are known, Cooley will be able to definitively prove compliance with Standard 316,” the website says.
The probation became effective on Sept. 19, 2025.
Students at Cooley Law School are still eligible for federal student financial aid and graduates are eligible to sit for the bar exam.
The accreditation will be reviewed by the Council in February. Cooley Law School remains accredited.
Here are the findings from the American Bar Association:
Here is a statement from Cooley Law School President and Dean James McGrath:
I was surprised by the Council’s action to put us on probation after giving testimony at their August 2025 meeting. We testified that over 75% of Cooley’s 2024 graduates who have taken a bar examination had passed. The Council however, did not agree that Cooley is currently in compliance with Standard 316 because results are not yet known for a small number of 2024 graduates who did not take a bar examination before July 2025. We also testified that while we cannot predict the future, Cooley is confident that when the nationwide results of the July 2025 bar examination are known, Cooley will be able to definitively prove compliance with Standard 316.
Based upon the questioning from the Council, I was optimistic that they would defer their decision unit their November meeting, when most of the bar exam results for July 2025 would be reported.
As of the time of this writing (4:30 p.m. on September 25, 2025), 79.2% of Cooley’s 2024 graduates who have taken a bar examination have passed. This number will likely increase later today, as reports from our Florida bar exam takers are beginning to trickle in. Our Florida results for first-time takers is almost 10% higher than they were for July 2024.
The two-year bar pass rate for students who graduated in 2024 is 79.2%. Although the ABA is currently examining the two-year pass rate of 2022 graduates, the ABA Standards provide that when graduates of subsequent years exceed 75% within two years, the school has returned to compliance. Other schools have regained or maintained compliance this way. Our 2024 graduates who took the July 2025 bar exam have either passed already or not - we just will not know until the results are reported. As I previously stated, we need only four more from this class to meet the standard by any metric.
Our program is solid, and our improved bar exam results are just one metric to prove it. I am happy to discuss with you our Reliable Plan, which was approved by the Council, which has been proven to be reliable and effective in improving our program and returning us to compliance with Standard 316.
Cooley Law School has only two more graduates for the class of 2024 and then we will be in compliance.
Cooley Law School President and Dean James McGrath