Admissions to the Bar by Examination and by Transferred UBE Score, 2020–2024

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 2020–2024 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 :

ID	Jurisdiction	Type of Admission	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
1	Alabama	Admission by Examination	341	369	386	360	410
2	Alabama	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	115	91	103	142	122
3	Alaska	Admission by Examination	61	62	53	39	71
4	Alaska	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	43	50	46	63	55
5	Arizona	Admission by Examination	393	526	364	431	467
6	Arizona	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	58	83	63	130	114
7	Arkansas	Admission by Examination	203	215	233	215	225
8	Arkansas	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	29	24	11	28	41
9	California	Admission by Examination	6,706	10,578	5,759	5,409	5,985
10	California	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
11	Colorado	Admission by Examination	657	695	617	663	748
12	Colorado	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	130	160	216	216	201
13	Connecticut	Admission by Examination	212	359	284	270	322
14	Connecticut	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	108	137	158	136	202
15	Delaware	Admission by Examination	31	224	116	158	185
16	Delaware	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
17	District of Columbia	Admission by Examination	2,044	2,093	1,980	1,996	2,136
18	District of Columbia	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	625	814	942	1,332	938
19	Florida	Admission by Examination	2,475	2,781	2,584	2,863	3,023
20	Florida	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
21	Georgia	Admission by Examination	1,140	1,009	963	973	1,090
22	Georgia	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
23	Hawaii	Admission by Examination	151	192	190	143	168
24	Hawaii	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
25	Idaho	Admission by Examination	141	160	158	122	110
26	Idaho	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	35	47	50	48	44
27	Illinois	Admission by Examination	2,157	3,171	2,093	1,755	1,981
28	Illinois	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	277	302	304	345	245
29	Indiana	Admission by Examination	547	578	377	361	393
30	Indiana	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	86	151	187	218
31	Iowa	Admission by Examination	161	191	185	172	185
32	Iowa	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	62	71	63	58	71
33	Kansas	Admission by Examination	75	139	140	128	153
34	Kansas	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	140	147	117	138	93
35	Kentucky	Admission by Examination	314	290	236	321	307
36	Kentucky	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	107	91	84	124
37	Louisiana	Admission by Examination	147	534	393	693	451
38	Louisiana	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
39	Maine	Admission by Examination	60	100	106	99	106
40	Maine	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	17	17	41	21	35
41	Maryland	Admission by Examination	732	713	793	627	627
42	Maryland	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	260	202	158	207	180
43	Massachusetts	Admission by Examination	1,126	1,181	1,043	1,382	1,518
44	Massachusetts	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	245	214	158	298	252
45	Michigan	Admission by Examination	676	572	806	617	747
46	Michigan	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	112	140
47	Minnesota	Admission by Examination	537	526	564	500	630
48	Minnesota	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	183	133	206	265	282
49	Mississippi	Admission by Examination	119	130	134	137	155
50	Mississippi	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
51	Missouri	Admission by Examination	615	596	568	616	628
52	Missouri	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	176	171	213	196	430
53	Montana	Admission by Examination	86	154	114	149	101
54	Montana	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	51	57	47	63	64
55	Nebraska	Admission by Examination	164	157	191	168	204
56	Nebraska	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	35	38	41	39	24
57	Nevada	Admission by Examination	278	328	294	283	233
58	Nevada	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
59	New Hampshire *	Admission by Examination	83	70	63	66	102
60	New Hampshire *	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	54	57	79	76	80
61	New Jersey	Admission by Examination	371	1,358	931	716	800
62	New Jersey	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	422	602	597	664	736
63	New Mexico	Admission by Examination	232	161	151	109	174
64	New Mexico	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	96	90	135	198	108
65	New York	Admission by Examination	7,208	6,420	6,614	7,701	7,696
66	New York	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	556	980	707	737	851
67	North Carolina	Admission by Examination	747	870	756	757	876
68	North Carolina	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	210	184	189	187	181
69	North Dakota	Admission by Examination	53	44	58	44	63
70	North Dakota	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	32	31	37	39	34
71	Ohio	Admission by Examination	854	884	836	855	978
72	Ohio	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	29	102	109	139	139
73	Oklahoma	Admission by Examination	291	311	306	338	378
74	Oklahoma	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	35	66	94	84
75	Oregon †	Admission by Examination	243	376	379	344	360
76	Oregon †	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	42	75	105	60	70
77	Pennsylvania	Admission by Examination	691	1,580	1,121	1,176	1,332
78	Pennsylvania	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	170	371	338
79	Rhode Island	Admission by Examination	32	134	73	87	102
80	Rhode Island	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	62	46	66	60	73
81	South Carolina	Admission by Examination	395	389	355	372	395
82	South Carolina	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	106	143	159	171	187
83	South Dakota	Admission by Examination	51	69	71	60	74
84	South Dakota	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
85	Tennessee	Admission by Examination	826	498	556	771	625
86	Tennessee	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	45	42	96	124	135
87	Texas	Admission by Examination	1,892	2,721	2,575	2,639	3,014
88	Texas	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	484	486	584	605	536
89	Utah	Admission by Examination	90	251	292	289	346
90	Utah	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	55	49	35	91	131
91	Vermont	Admission by Examination	60	86	60	70	37
92	Vermont	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	18	40	30	42	26
93	Virginia	Admission by Examination	668	631	572	562	610
94	Virginia	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
95	Washington	Admission by Examination	1,593	549	581	618	662
96	Washington	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	197	185	230	196	226
97	West Virginia	Admission by Examination	146	109	107	108	117
98	West Virginia	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	18	20	29	29	32
99	Wisconsin ‡	Admission by Examination	130	116	100	120	90
100	Wisconsin ‡	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
101	Wyoming	Admission by Examination	61	68	39	54	42
102	Wyoming	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	46	43	40	38	51
103	Guam	Admission by Examination	6	5	7	3	11
104	Guam	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
105	Northern Mariana Islands	Admission by Examination	7	2	2	1	3
106	Northern Mariana Islands	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	17	—	—	—	—
107	Palau	Admission by Examination	—	1	2	2	1
108	Palau	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
109	Puerto Rico	Admission by Examination	213	423	321	375	311
110	Puerto Rico	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	—	—	—	—	—
111	Virgin Islands	Admission by Examination	7	13	7	9	11
112	Virgin Islands	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	4	11	9	10	6
113	Total for All Jurisdictions	Admission by Examination	39,364	46,762	38,659	39,896	42,569
114	Total for All Jurisdictions	Admission by Transferred UBE Score	5,017	6,617	6,651	8,039	7,899

*Individuals admitted in New Hampshire via the University of New Hampshire’s Daniel Webster Scholar (DWS) Honors Program are not included in this chart: 21 in 2020, 23 in 2021, 24 in 2022, 18 in 2023, and 22 in 2024. Details on the DWS Honors Program are here: https://www.courts.nh.gov/lawyers/nh-bar-admissions/admission-successful-completion-dws-program.† Individuals admitted in Oregon in 2024 include 4 admitted via Oregon’s Provisional Licensing Program (PLP), a licensure pathway offered to individuals who took the February 2022 bar exam in Oregon and obtained a score of 264 or lower. Details on the PLP are here: https://www.osbar.org/plp. Also admitted in Oregon in 2024, but not included in this chart, are 5 admitted via Oregon’s Supervised Practice Portfolio Examination (SPPE). Details on the SPPE are here: https://www.osbar.org/sppe.‡ Individuals admitted in Wisconsin via diploma privilege are not included in this chart: 299 in 2020, 438 in 2021, 400 in 2022, 390 in 2023, and 457 in 2024. Wisconsin’s diploma privilege rule allows graduates of its in-state ABA-accredited law schools eligibility for admission without taking the traditional bar examination.

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