How Do You Get Admitted to the Michigan Bar?

The Michigan Board of Law Examiners certifies applicants for admission to the Michigan bar by examination (Rule 2) or, on the basis of admission in another jurisdiction, without examination (Rule 5).

Michigan also has an integrated bar: everyone licensed to practice law in the state is a member of the State Bar of Michigan.

The Board of Law Examiners runs admissions; the State Bar is the membership body lawyers belong to once they are licensed.

Michigan gives the Uniform Bar Examination: the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) and two Multistate Performance Test (MPT) tasks, as prepared and defined by NCBE.

Michigan adopted the UBE with the February 2023 exam — the state's first UBE was administered February 21–22, 2023 — and the Board of Law Examiners set the Michigan UBE passing cut score at 268.

The UBE runs two days: the MEE and MPT tasks on the Tuesday, the MBE on the last Wednesday of February and July.

One content change to know: effective with the July 2026 exam, the MEE no longer tests Conflict of Laws, Family Law, Trusts and Estates, or Secured Transactions.

Michigan requires at least 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours of college completed before entering law school, and a J.D. from a reputable and qualified school — the rule names ABA-approved schools as its example.

Every applicant must also complete the Michigan Law Basics online training from ICLE, and the requirement covers exam takers, UBE transfer applicants and admission-on-motion applicants alike.

ICLE increased the price of that training to $129 on August 1, 2026.

It is a pre-admission requirement, not ongoing CLE.

Michigan requires a minimum MPRE scaled score of 85.

The MPRE is NCBE's two-hour, 60-question multiple-choice exam on the established standards of lawyer conduct, offered three times a year, and NCBE lists it as required for bar admission in every U.S. jurisdiction except Wisconsin and Puerto Rico.

For context from NCBE's jurisdiction pages: 21 jurisdictions require an 85 and 20 require an 80.

The State Bar of Michigan character and fitness committee investigates applicants under the Board of Law Examiners' rules.

For applicants seeking admission without examination, the process includes an NCBE character report, which carries its own fee on top of Michigan's $800 application fee.

A transferred UBE score does not skip the step: NCBE notes that each receiving jurisdiction runs its own character and fitness review.

Our research did not capture how the committee weighs individual issues, so questions about a specific history belong with the Board of Law Examiners and the committee.

Yes, through two routes.

Admission without examination under Rule 5 is open to lawyers who have, after licensure, actively practiced law as a principal business or occupation in a jurisdiction where they are admitted for 3 of the 5 years before applying; full-time law teaching and JAG service also count, and Rule 5 sets no reciprocity requirement.

Michigan also accepts transferred UBE scores of 268 or higher from a full UBE no older than 3 years — the same cut score that applies to examinees who sit in Michigan.

Both routes carry the Michigan Law Basics training — the requirement covers exam takers, UBE transfer applicants and admission-on-motion applicants alike — and a transferred score does not skip Michigan's character and fitness review.

Fees differ: the application for a transferred UBE score is $400 (NCBE separately charges $30 for the official score transcript), while admission without examination is $800 plus the NCBE character report fee.

Under Board of Law Examiners Rule 6, the UBE exam application fee is $400 with an additional $100 fee for late filing; a re-examination application is $300, an application for admission by transferred UBE score is $400, and admission without examination is $800 plus the NCBE character report fee.

Exam applications are due November 1 for the February exam and March 1 for the July exam.

On results, 47% of applicants passed the February 2026 exam (152 of 326), including 61% of first-time takers, and 65% passed the July 2025 exam (490 of 754), including 76% of first-time takers.

Our research did not capture how quickly the board releases results after each administration, so check the board's exam pages for current timelines.

Michigan plans to first administer the NextGen UBE in July 2028, and NCBE's adoption table lists Michigan among the jurisdictions with a July 2028 first administration.

Until then Michigan keeps the current exam, which NCBE now calls the legacy UBE and says it will administer through February 2028.

The NextGen format is different: it runs 9 hours over 1.5 days and reports one score on a 500–750 scale, which NCBE says should not be compared directly with the legacy exam's 400-point scale.