Dear Students and Alumni:

I am happy to share the following updates with you:

Expanding State Bar Licensure Opportunities: Washington

Purdue Global Law School is excited to add Washington to the list of state licensure opportunities for our Juris Doctor (JD) graduates. In May 2026, the Board of Governors of the Washington State Bar Association approved an amendment to expand “approved law schools” beyond ABA accreditation. Purdue Global Law School JD graduates will be eligible to apply for the bar exam in Washington beginning September 1, 2026, which is when applications open for the February 2027 administration of the NextGen UBE in Washington. I should note that opponents of the change have tried to undo it and may try again, so we will keep you posted if there are any further developments.

Bar Exam Developments in Florida, Texas, Alabama, and Ohio

There are exciting developments unfolding in other states as well. Here is the latest update:

Florida and Texas both amended their rules in January 2026 so that state approval, not ABA approval, is now the criterion for bar exam eligibility. However, those states still haven’t provided any information about how or when non-ABA law schools can apply to be added to their lists of state-approved schools.

In April 2026, the Supreme Court of Alabama issued an order, effective January 1, 2027, expanding eligibility for their bar exam to graduates of non-ABA state-approved schools. However, their amended rule limits eligibility to “resident students” at non-ABA law schools, but it doesn’t define that term. We have asked the Alabama State Bar to clarify that this does not exclude online students such as ours. We hope to hear back with positive news.

Lastly, the Supreme Court of Ohio posted for public comment proposed amendments to their bar admission rules that would expand eligibility to include a law school approved by a “state accrediting agency.” I submitted comments on behalf of Purdue Global Law School encouraging the Court to adopt the amendments.

If, in addition to Washington State, Alabama and Ohio go our way, that will mean there will be six states in which Purdue Global Law School graduates can sit for the bar exam immediately upon graduation (not including North Carolina or Wisconsin, where they can immediately sit for their bar or transfer a UBE score upon getting licensed elsewhere). And we’re not going to stop until we get all 50!

The movement to expand bar licensure opportunities is clearly gaining momentum. We will let you know when we learn of more developments in these or other states.

Law School Recognition

Our preadmission program, Foundations for Law School Excellence (FLEX), was recently recognized by Insights Into Academia in its 2026 Excellence in Innovation Award: Law Schools. The mission of Purdue Global Law School has always been to make legal education more accessible, and the FLEX program fits perfectly with that mission. Since launching in May 2025, the program has significantly improved student retention and performance, with 89% of FLEX students continuing through to their third term compared with only 60% of non-FLEX students.

Purdue Global Law School Named a Best Online JD Program

I am also pleased to share another recognition of our continued commitment to high-quality legal education. For the sixth consecutive year, Purdue Global Law School was named to The Princeton Review's list of Best Online JD Programs. We are proud to have earned this distinction every year since the list was first published in 2021.

February 2026 Bar Exam Pass Rates

For the second time in the three bar exam administrations that Purdue Global Law School graduates could sit in Connecticut and Indiana, we beat both the first-time and repeater statewide averages. In Connecticut, the first-time and repeater rates were 44% and 26%, respectively, whereas Purdue Global Law School’s rates were 53% and 40%.

In Indiana, the statewide first-time and repeater rates were 53% and 39%, whereas ours were 83% and 50%. Unfortunately, we didn’t score a hat trick: in California, our pass rates were about a dozen percentage points behind the statewide first-time and repeater rates of 44% and 21%.

But across all three states, Purdue Global Law School’s bar exam pass rates still beat the averages: 46% vs. 44% for first-time takers and 35% vs. 31% overall. Congratulations to all our successful examinees. We look forward to reporting even stronger results in the future.

Distinguished Speaker Series: Space Law Webinar With Michelle Hanlon

Join me for our upcoming webinar "The New Space Race: Laws, Liabilities, and Lunar Commerce” with Michelle Hanlon on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at 12:00 pm PT (3:00 pm ET). As humanity pushes further into the cosmos, the commercialization of space brings unprecedented legal and ethical challenges. Michelle Hanlon, dubbed the “Godmother of Space Law,” and I will discuss the complex frontiers of extraterrestrial law, from establishing lunar mineral rights and protecting heritage sites to assigning liability for space debris.

Licensed attorneys may receive 1 CA general Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) credit for attending this webinar. The webinar is free, but registration is required here.

Thanks, and all the best,

Martin Pritikin
Dean and Vice President
Purdue Global Law School

About the Author

Martin Pritikin, JD

Martin Pritikin serves as Dean and Vice President at Purdue Global Law School (formerly Concord Law School). The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not represent the view of Purdue Global Law School.

Dean's Column