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Dallas, Texas

SMU Dedman School of Law

Accreditation
ABA approved since 1927
Institution type
Private
J.D. formats
Full-time J.D.
Add to my applications
Median LSAT
167
Fall 2025 entering class
Median GPA
3.81
Fall 2025 entering class
Resident tuition
$60,844
Full-time, 2025-2026
First-year class
254
Enrolled fall 2025
Bar-required jobs
94.7%
Class of 2025, full-time long-term
First-time bar passage
97.8%
2025 graduates

Latest verified values from ABA required disclosures. Each dataset describes a different class, as labelled. The job share is PreLaw Advisor’s arithmetic (full-time, long-term bar-passage-required positions ÷ total graduates), not an ABA-published figure.

First-time bar passage — 2019 graduates

Source
Organization
American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Document
ABA Bar Passage compilation — first-time takers (2020 report)
Covers
Report year 2020
Retrieved
Sep 23, 2026
Status
Verified · Sep 23, 2026
Open official source (opens in a new tab)
School pass rate
86.5%
Weighted jurisdiction rate
77.3%
Difference
+9.23 pts
First-time takers
267
231 passed

The weighted jurisdiction rate is the average first-time pass rate in the jurisdictions where this school’s graduates tested, weighted by the number of takers. It gives context for the school’s own rate.

First-time results by jurisdiction
JurisdictionTakersPassersSchool %Jurisdiction %Difference
Texas26022486.2%77.4%+8.78
6 Remaining Jurisdictions77100%74.5%+25.51

Ultimate bar passage — 2017 graduates

Source
Organization
American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Document
ABA Bar Passage compilation — two-year ultimate (2020 report)
Covers
Report year 2020
Retrieved
Sep 23, 2026
Status
Verified · Sep 23, 2026
Open official source (opens in a new tab)
Ultimate pass rate
94.6%
Within two years of graduation
Graduates
248
Takers
241
Passers
228

Ultimate passage counts graduates who passed any bar exam within two years of graduating. It is a different measure from first-time passage and covers an earlier graduating class.

First-time passage history

First-time pass rate by graduating class
Graduating classSchoolJurisdictions
202597.8%82.5%
202490.2%81.4%
202384.9%79%
202285.3%75.4%
202187%77.6%
202085.2%76.4%
201986.5%77.3%
201884.8%73.2%
201784%76.5%