Admissions to the Bar by Examination and by Transferred UBE Score, 2019–2023

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most jurisdictions made modifications to their July 2020 and February and July 2021 bar exam administrations, some of which have implications for the admissions statistics in the following chart.

Score Transfer Agreements for NCBE’s October 2020 Remote Testing Option: The number of 2020–2022 admissions by transferred Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) score also includes those admitted by score transfer agreements entered into by 14 UBE jurisdictions administering NCBE’s remote testing option on October 5–6, 2020. (The remote testing option did not constitute the full bar exam or the UBE; scores earned on the remote test were to be used for local admission decisions only and did not qualify as UBE scores.) These jurisdictions are Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont. In addition, Washington, which did not administer the remote test, announced in March 2021 that it would accept remote test score transfers, for certain qualified applicants, from other jurisdictions that were UBE jurisdictions at the time of the October 2020 remote test administration. These 15 jurisdictions are typically accepting remote exam score transfers for the same length of time as they do for UBE score transfers (from 3 to 5 years).
Emergency Diploma Privilege/Examination Waiver: In July 2020, five jurisdictions adopted emergency diploma privilege/examination waiver rules allowing certain qualified candidates to be eligible for admission to the bar in that jurisdiction without taking the bar examination. These admissions, which are not included in the following chart, are as follows: District of Columbia (108 in 2021, 5 in 2022), Louisiana (409 in 2020), Oregon (240 in 2020, 9 in 2021), Utah (130 in 2020, 41 in 2021), and Washington (498 in 2020, 54 in 2021, 8 in 2022).
Temporarily Lowered Passing Scores: Four jurisdictions temporarily lowered their passing scores for the July 2020 exam cycle, three of which extended their modifications beyond 2020: Hawaii (lowered from 134 to 133 for the September 9–10, 2020, and February 2021 exams), North Carolina (lowered from 270 to 268 for the July 2020 and February and July 2021 exams), Oregon (lowered from 274 to 266 for the July 2020 exam), and Washington (lowered from 270 to 266 for the July 2020; September 9–10, 2020; and February and July 2021 and 2022 exams).
Temporary Supervised Practice Rules: In July 2020, 31 jurisdictions expanded or adopted temporary supervised practice rules to allow qualified candidates to engage in the limited practice of law under the supervision of a licensed attorney until they were able to take the bar exam.
Delayed 2020 Admissions: Some jurisdictions experienced delays in 2020 admissions (such as delayed swearing-in ceremonies or delayed applicant submission of paperwork) such that certain admission requirements were not fulfilled until early 2021. As these delays were solely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these admissions are included in the following chart as 2020 admissions.

For full details, see “COVID-19: Implications for 2020 Statistics” in the Spring 2021 issue of the Bar Examiner, and “COVID-19: Modifications to 2021 Bar Exams” in the Spring 2022 issue of the Bar Examiner.

Jurisdiction:

Type of Admission:

ID	Jurisdiction	Type of Admission	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
1	Alabama	Admission by Examination	405	341	369	386	360
2	Alabama	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	79	115	91	103	142
3	Alaska	Admission by Examination	44	61	62	53	39
4	Alaska	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	34	43	50	46	63
5	Arizona	Admission by Examination	440	393	526	364	431
6	Arizona	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	73	58	83	63	130
7	Arkansas	Admission by Examination	197	203	215	233	215
8	Arkansas	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	29	24	11	28
9	California	Admission by Examination	5,187	6,706	10,578	5,759	5,409
10	California	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
11	Colorado	Admission by Examination	686	657	695	617	663
12	Colorado	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	110	130	160	216	216
13	Connecticut	Admission by Examination	254	212	359	284	270
14	Connecticut	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	155	108	137	158	136
15	Delaware	Admission by Examination	103	31	224	116	158
16	Delaware	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
17	District of Columbia	Admission by Examination	1,634	2,044	2,093	1,980	5,077
18	District of Columbia	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	447	625	814	942	1,332
19	Florida	Admission by Examination	2,732	2,475	2,781	2,584	2,863
20	Florida	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
21	Georgia	Admission by Examination	1,089	1,140	1,009	963	973
22	Georgia	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
23	Hawaii	Admission by Examination	176	151	192	190	143
24	Hawaii	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
25	Idaho	Admission by Examination	127	141	160	158	122
26	Idaho	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	48	35	47	50	48
27	Illinois	Admission by Examination	1,710	2,157	3,171	2,093	1,755
28	Illinois	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	145	277	302	304	345
29	Indiana	Admission by Examination	413	547	578	377	361
30	Indiana	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	86	151	187
31	Iowa	Admission by Examination	194	161	191	185	172
32	Iowa	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	67	62	71	63	58
33	Kansas	Admission by Examination	125	75	139	140	128
34	Kansas	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	108	140	147	117	138
35	Kentucky	Admission by Examination	321	314	290	236	321
36	Kentucky	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	107	91	84
37	Louisiana	Admission by Examination	477	147	534	393	693
38	Louisiana	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
39	Maine	Admission by Examination	76	60	100	106	99
40	Maine	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	22	17	17	41	21
41	Maryland	Admission by Examination	638	732	713	793	627
42	Maryland	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	6	260	202	158	207
43	Massachusetts	Admission by Examination	1,209	1,126	1,181	1,043	1,382
44	Massachusetts	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	213	245	214	158	298
45	Michigan	Admission by Examination	596	676	572	806	617
46	Michigan	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	112
47	Minnesota	Admission by Examination	546	537	526	564	500
48	Minnesota	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	158	183	133	206	265
49	Mississippi	Admission by Examination	167	119	130	134	137
50	Mississippi	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
51	Missouri	Admission by Examination	684	615	596	568	616
52	Missouri	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	104	176	171	213	196
53	Montana	Admission by Examination	99	86	154	114	149
54	Montana	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	35	51	57	47	63
55	Nebraska	Admission by Examination	145	164	157	191	168
56	Nebraska	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	39	35	38	41	39
57	Nevada	Admission by Examination	314	278	328	294	283
58	Nevada	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
59	New Hampshire *	Admission by Examination	87	83	70	63	66
60	New Hampshire *	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	52	54	57	79	76
61	New Jersey	Admission by Examination	372	371	1,358	931	716
62	New Jersey	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	323	422	602	597	664
63	New Mexico	Admission by Examination	216	232	161	151	109
64	New Mexico	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	111	96	90	135	198
65	New York	Admission by Examination	7,601	7,208	6,420	6,614	7,701
66	New York	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	391	556	980	707	737
67	North Carolina	Admission by Examination	852	747	870	756	757
68	North Carolina	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	144	210	184	189	187
69	North Dakota	Admission by Examination	76	53	44	58	44
70	North Dakota	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	37	32	31	37	39
71	Ohio	Admission by Examination	847	854	884	836	855
72	Ohio	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	29	102	109	139
73	Oklahoma	Admission by Examination	320	291	311	306	338
74	Oklahoma	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	35	66	94
75	Oregon	Admission by Examination	383	243	376	379	344
76	Oregon	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	48	42	75	105	60
77	Pennsylvania	Admission by Examination	1,239	691	1,580	1,121	1,176
78	Pennsylvania	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	170	371
79	Rhode Island	Admission by Examination	70	32	134	73	87
80	Rhode Island	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	18	62	46	66	60
81	South Carolina	Admission by Examination	434	395	389	355	372
82	South Carolina	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	79	106	143	159	171
83	South Dakota	Admission by Examination	77	51	69	71	60
84	South Dakota	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
85	Tennessee	Admission by Examination	631	826	498	556	771
86	Tennessee	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	69	45	42	96	124
87	Texas	Admission by Examination	2,608	1,892	2,721	2,575	2,639
88	Texas	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	484	486	584	605
89	Utah	Admission by Examination	257	90	251	292	289
90	Utah	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	52	55	49	35	91
91	Vermont	Admission by Examination	49	60	86	60	70
92	Vermont	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	24	18	40	30	42
93	Virginia	Admission by Examination	646	668	631	572	562
94	Virginia	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
95	Washington	Admission by Examination	597	1,593	549	581	618
96	Washington	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	167	197	185	230	196
97	West Virginia	Admission by Examination	146	146	109	107	108
98	West Virginia	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	12	18	20	29	29
99	Wisconsin †	Admission by Examination	118	130	116	100	120
100	Wisconsin †	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
101	Wyoming	Admission by Examination	50	61	68	39	54
102	Wyoming	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	60	46	43	40	38
103	Guam	Admission by Examination	4	6	5	7	3
104	Guam	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
105	Northern Mariana Islands	Admission by Examination	2	7	2	2	1
106	Northern Mariana Islands	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	17	—	—	—
107	Palau	Admission by Examination	2	—	1	2	2
108	Palau	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
109	Puerto Rico	Admission by Examination	354	213	423	321	375
110	Puerto Rico	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
111	Virgin Islands	Admission by Examination	13	7	13	7	9
112	Virgin Islands	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	4	4	11	9	10
113	Total for All Jurisdictions	Admission by Examination	38,839	39,364	46,762	38,659	42,977
114	Total for All Jurisdictions	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	3,434	5,017	6,617	6,651	8,039

*Individuals admitted in New Hampshire via the University of New Hampshire’s Daniel Webster Scholar (DWS) Honors Program are not included in this chart. The number of individuals admitted in New Hampshire via the DWS Honors Program in 2019–2023 are as follows: 18 in 2019, 21 in 2020, 23 in 2021, 24 in 2022, and 18 in 2023. (The DWS Honors Program, a two-year performance-based program to which students are accepted prior to their second year of law school, allows successful students to be admitted to the New Hampshire Bar without taking the traditional bar examination.)†Individuals admitted in Wisconsin via diploma privilege are not included in this chart. The number of individuals admitted in Wisconsin via diploma privilege in 2019–2023 are as follows: 327 in 2019, 299 in 2020, 438 in 2021, 400 in 2022, and 390 in 2023. (Wisconsin’s diploma privilege rule allows graduates of its in-state ABA-accredited law schools eligibility for admission without taking the traditional bar examination.)

[apss_share networks = ‘print,email’]

Download and print the official publication copy.