What Does $153 Actually Cover? Law Students Weigh In on the February 2025 Bar Exam Settlement
The February 2025 California bar exam has a price tag now. Candidates who sat for the exam reached a $1.35 million class settlement with Meazure Learning, the vendor behind the troubled administration. Spread across 3,886 candidates, that works out to roughly $153 each, which is about the amount of the laptop fee they paid to take the test.
For comparison, the State Bar of California settled its own suit against the same vendor for $5.25 million in July.
We asked our student ambassadors two questions: what should a current law student take from this, and does a fee refund count as a remedy at all? Their answers are below, lightly edited for length.
Your voice matters, and class actions work
“What a law student should get from this is that our voices do matter and class actions do work. Getting the laptop fee as a refund would be nice, but I feel like more should be given because of the stress of having to deal with the technological issues of the exam.”
Daisy, UC Davis School of Law
“Accountability matters, especially when a high stakes exam is disrupted by problems outside the candidates’ control. Refunding the laptop fee is a meaningful remedy, but it feels more like reimbursement than full compensation for the stress, uncertainty, and disruption students experienced.”
Michelle, University of San Diego School of Law
A refund is not the same as being made whole
“$153 cannot possibly compensate the damages of having to retake the bar. It is not mere emotional distress. It is the months of dedicated studying, the thousands of dollars in registration fees and bar prep classes, and most importantly, it is another year of your career paused because you cannot represent your clients in court.”
Anna, UC Davis School of Law
“A more appropriate settlement would have covered a significant, if not the total, amount of the registration fee. Many candidates likely had entry-level associate jobs on the line contingent on passing. It is a bigger slap in the face that the State Bar received a larger settlement than the students actually harmed.”
Soso, University of San Diego School of Law
The next class is watching
“The bar exam is already a stressful affair. The cost to the student is more than merely the laptop fee. As a future bar exam test-taker, the State Bar has been plagued with problems and it is increasing my anxiety as my exam date approaches.”
Tim, Chapman University Fowler School of Law
What to take from this
Three themes came through clearly:
- Collective action produced a result. Candidates who organized got a settlement; individuals complaining into the void would not have.
- A refund restores a fee. It does not restore months of study, bar prep costs, a delayed start date, or trust in the process. Every ambassador drew that distinction.
- The comparison to the State Bar’s $5.25 million settlement is the part students remember. The institution recovered far more than the people who sat for the exam.
If you are preparing for an upcoming exam, the practical takeaway is simple: document everything, know your rights as a candidate, and stay connected to the people going through it with you.
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