Florida A&M University students posted significantly improved licensure exam passage rates for law and pharmacy last year, two programs the now-chair of the Board of Governors said two years ago he was “prepared to take away” absent such improvements.
According to this year’s FAMU accountability plan, 90% of FAMU pharmacy students passed the licensure exam on their first attempt in 2025. In 2024, the passage rate was 67%.
University governor ‘prepared to take away’ FAMU law, nursing, pharmacy programs
For law students, the first-time bar exam pass rate was 41% in 2023. It rose to 63% in 2024 and in 2025 marked 73%.
Board of Governors Chair Alan Levine raised the concerns two years ago with something on his mind.
“Practically speaking, it’s just a horrible waste of resources to take years of a young person’s life, put them through an educational program where at the tail end of it they don’t have the knowledge base to pass their boards,” Levine told the Phoenix in a phone interview Wednesday.
“The thought that people pay an exorbitant sum for tuition and the taxpayers contribute to the cost of these degrees, students should be well prepared” to pass their licensure exams, he said.
During the meeting two years ago, Levine questioned whether admissions standards were high enough for the struggling programs. “Not everyone needs to be a lawyer, not everyone can go into nursing, they’re tough career paths,” he said.
Following those comments, Levine said, he talked to interim president Timothy Beard about the scores, who then moved “very quickly,” including putting together a task force for the law school.
“I give them credit. They were willing to take input,” Levine said. “And as I understand it, the results are showing, they’re much improved, and I just think that’s great.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
With law passing 73% of students on first attempt, the score still falls below approved goal of 80%. Pharmacy’s 90% is below its 94% goal. Nursing scored 1% shy of its 90% goal.
FAMU’s 2025 pharmacy passage rate is the same as the program’s 2021 passage rate before it dropped to 67%.
“I’m usually pretty quick to be critical, but I’m also very quick to recognize good work. And, if we’re going to be critical, we should also recognize when they’ve done a good job, and this is a great example where FAMU was criticized, they rose up, they dealt with the problem, and they deserve credit for fixing it,” Levine said.
During a virtual FAMU Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday, two trustees offered high praise for interim law school dean Cecil Howard, who has been in that role since February 2024, when former dean Deidré Keller resigned.
“Dean Howard hit the ground running and he is definitely making strides. Look at where we are in the last two bar cycles — we have now gone up each time,” FAMU Board of Trustees Chair Deveron Gibbons said. “… I just see future success as it relates to that.”
Levine was also concerned about FAMU nursing passage rates during the meeting two years ago.
From 2024 to 2025, the success rate of FAMU nursing test-takers dropped by 4%, from 93% to 89%. In 2021, the pass rate was 62% and rose each year until 2025.
“Numbers don’t lie, we’ve got great numbers and we’ve got physical presence, it’s a big deal,” trustee John Crossman said, referencing the law school dean’s involvement in the community.
In the February 2026 administration of the Florida Bar exam, 10 of 15 first-time test takers passed, equating 67%.
Independent Journalism for All
As a nonprofit newsroom, our articles are free for everyone to access. Readers like you make that possible. Can you help sustain our watchdog reporting today?
