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Columbia, South Carolina

University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law

Accreditation
ABA approved since 1925
Institution type
Public
J.D. formats
Full-time J.D.
Add to my applications
Median LSAT
162
Fall 2025 entering class
Median GPA
3.67
Fall 2025 entering class
Resident tuition
$20,322
Full-time, 2025-2026
First-year class
221
Enrolled fall 2025
Bar-required jobs
88.9%
Class of 2025, full-time long-term
First-time bar passage
90.1%
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 — 2017 graduates

Source
Organization
American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Document
ABA Bar Passage compilation — first-time takers (2018 report)
Covers
Report year 2018
Retrieved
Sep 23, 2026
Status
Verified · Sep 23, 2026
Open official source (opens in a new tab)
School pass rate
76.8%
Weighted jurisdiction rate
71.6%
Difference
+5.23 pts
First-time takers
203
156 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
South Carolina15511976.8%71.8%+4.98
16 Remaining Jurisdictions302583.3%75%+8.30
North Carolina181266.7%65.2%+1.45

Ultimate bar passage — 2015 graduates

Source
Organization
American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Document
ABA Bar Passage compilation — two-year ultimate (2018 report)
Covers
Report year 2018
Retrieved
Sep 23, 2026
Status
Verified · Sep 23, 2026
Open official source (opens in a new tab)
Ultimate pass rate
89.1%
Within two years of graduation
Graduates
211
Takers
202
Passers
180

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
202590.1%81.1%
202483.3%75.8%
202381.6%77%
202276.9%75.8%
202182%74.9%
202083.3%73.8%
201980.9%75.3%
201878.2%71.7%
201776.8%71.6%