Meet the Team Behind Student Success and Bar Preparation at The Colleges of Law

The Colleges of Law students have a dedicated duo in their corner to guide them toward graduation and to support their efforts to pass the California Bar Exam.

Law students approach their studies each day with two summits looming on their horizon: earning their J.D. degree and, for those who plan to become practicing lawyers, passing the bar exam. For students at The Colleges of Law, these challenges may be made more complicated by day jobs, childcare, and other daily demands. This is why the college has made a substantial investment in student outcomes that is already paying dividends. Associate Dean of Student Success and Bar Preparation April Vincent, J.D., and Program Manager Jen Louie came to The Colleges of Law with the mission of enhancing student success and improving the pass rate for graduates taking the bar exam. They established a system of support designed to improve student retention and academic performance and to increase the pass rate for the bar exam. 

A small team with big plans for student success

As the first to hold her position when she arrived in 2022, Vincent says, “I created a department of one.” She used the resources available, including academic advisors and student mentors, to create an effective core of support. These efforts translated to a bar passage rate over 60% in 2023, which exceeded the passage rate for American Bar Association (ABA) accredited schools.

Based on that success, Vincent was able to hire Louie as Program Manager. “We’ve worked together in the past,” Vincent says. “I saw her skills, her ability to run the department while I’m out thinking of these ideas and creating and putting programs into place. Now we’re a mighty department of two.”

Meeting the unique needs of students at The Colleges of Law

The experiences of students at The Colleges of Law and other California State Bar-accredited* law schools are different from the more common law school experience in which recent college graduates enter law school as the beginning of a career in law. Students at The Colleges of Law, on the other hand, have often first worked in other fields. Consequently, they commonly focus on practice-based areas of law such as real estate and family law as opposed to, say, constitutional law. As an example, The Colleges of Law graduate Daniel Knight, J.D., worked for many years in the building trades before becoming a construction lawyer. For these students, law school is a significant expense in relation to their income. Therefore, they understand the importance of graduating and passing the bar exam as a return on that investment.

Creating a formula for success

A first step in addressing the students’ needs is recognizing, as Vincent says, “A student who’s in a part-time program can’t be expected to just go straight into full-time bar prep, traditionally 50-60 hours a week for 10 to 12 weeks, because they still have whatever they went into law school with, their careers, their families.”

As a response to this reality, Vincent and Louie decided on a six-month plan for bar prep. That includes  three months of a bar prep program called BARBRI and an additional three months of curriculum of relevant content such as an outside bar grader to whom students can submit their bar preparation materials and receive feedback and a bar-style grade.

Additionally, the team created a bar studies course with a curriculum created by an independent consultant who has extensive bar support training and experience and written famed bar study materials available online. “It’s a three-unit course for a grade,” Vincent says. “It’s simulating what bar prep will be like for them before they get there and they are shocked by the level of work, but then when they get to the bar prep, they’re really excited.”

Making the most of a second chance

Another group getting special attention under the bar prep program are those graduates who have failed the bar and are studying to take the exam again. “We call them freshers,” Louie says. “They’re repeating the bar with a fresh mindset.”

Vincent explains that they don’t use the common term “repeaters” because they don’t want them to repeat what they did last time, which didn’t lead to passing. “The pass rate for law students from California-accredited schools is around 30%, so 70% of them are in the same boat,” she says. “We keep them on their own. Canvas page and treat them differently from first-time takers because we want them to feel connected and capable.”

 These efforts are showing results. “I had one gentleman who was on his fourth time,” Vincent says. “He was at his wits’ end with the challenge of the bar when we gave him additional support. I was there when he passed and was sworn in. His whole family was there. His wife was crying, holding a brand-new baby. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional career to see that.”

Tips for success

For students who are beginning their first year at The Colleges of Law, Vincent has some suggestions for success:

— Attend every workshop or event that the student success and bar team offers because they are all carefully planned.

— Engage in The Colleges of Law community. Get to know your peers and your mentors because they’re the key to your success.

— Make sure that you have time for law school and that you’ve carved out enough physical, emotional time and resources to go all in.

To this list, Louie adds, “Trust the process, trust the formula. It’s not 100% foolproof, but it’s as close to the magic bullet as you can get.”

In just a short time, the student support and bar preparation team has taken student support to a new level. The bar pass rate for February 2024 the first-time bar passage for The Colleges of Law was 46%, more than ten points higher than the average for all California-accredited law schools.

Jordan Orozco, who graduated from The Colleges of Law in May of 2023 and passed the July 2023 bar exam says, “Having access to a straightforward, easy-to-follow program, coupled with support from the student success and bar preparation team and a plethora of other resources made available to students made it extremely easy to excel and feel confident while taking the bar exam.” Alumna Wendy Kipperman, who also passed the July 2023 exam, agrees. “I could not have passed the bar exam on the first try without their guidance and support,” she says.

* The Colleges of Law is regionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools & Colleges Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). Its Juris Doctor (J.D.) program is accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California as a single institution with two campuses in Santa Barbara and Ventura as well as a hybrid J.D. program.

Photo: April Vincent (left) and Jen Louie.