Jefferson finishes last in 2013 bar passage rate

Once again, troubled Thomas Jefferson School of Law was last in bar-passage rates in 2013 among state American Bar Association-approved law schools. Only 50.3 percent of Jefferson's first-time test-takers passed — down from 52.33 percent in 2012, when the school was also in last place.

University of San Diego had a 74.6 percent passage rate and California Western 68.5 percent.

Tops in the state was Stanford, at 91 percent. Of out-of-state schools, Harvard topped the list at 95.9 percent. On the bottom rung nationally was Florida Coastal at 10 percent.

In December, Standard & Poor's gave Jefferson bonds a junk-bond rating mostly because of its construction of a new facility in 2011. In December, there were massive pay and staff cuts. The new dean admitted past sins in a memo to faculty and staff.