Law school graduates of the University of California, Davis, posted a passing rate of 88.2 percent in the State Bar of California's July 1991 examination. The 88.2 percent figure is for all 136 UC Davis applicants who took the examination. The 130 UC Davis law graduates who took the examination for the first time registered a passing rate of 90.7 percent. Both figures represent improvements over the passing rates achieved by UC Davis graduates in the July 1990 bar examination, when the overall rate was 86.5 percent, and the rate for first-timers was 89.3 percent. Edward H. Rabin, acting dean at the law school, said, "I am delighted that once again our students have done exceedingly well on the bar exam. We do not teach for the exam. Instead, we attempt to provide students with a sound theoretical and practical education. Apparently this education is also helpful for bar exam purposes." The performance of UC Davis graduates in the 1991 examination runs counter to that of the entire pool of applicants. Out of a total of 7,255 applicants, 3,976, or 54.8 percent, passed the exam, representing a 3.2 percent drop from the passage rate of 58 percent for the July 1990 exam. No figures are available yet showing how UC Davis' passing rate compares with those of other schools. From an academic standpoint, the passing rate for first-time takers is considered the more significant because the rate for all takers includes people who have failed the examination multiple times.