Alaska bar exam: Legacy or current exam until July 2028; NextGen afterward.
| July exam | May 1 |
| February exam | Dec. 1 |
| Fees | First-time $876 (incl. 3% fee); attorney $876 (incl. 3% fee); repeater $618 (incl. 3% fee); laptop $129 |
| MPRE minimum | 80 |
Dates can change. Check the board’s site before you pay.
Before filing in Alaska, check the current NCBE profile ↗.
| Rule | Alaska Bar Rule 43.4 |
| Accommodation | Waiver to practice law without exam for attorney spouses of active-duty military stationed in Alaska; MPRE 80 required |
| Duration | While stationed in Alaska on orders |
| Supervision | Not required |
| Adopted | 2017 |
Confirm current status directly with Alaska's bar admission authority ↗: this area of law shifted federally in December 2024 and states are still catching up.
Alaska's next two exams are February 23-24, 2027 and July 27-28, 2027, given in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. The application for the February exam is due December 1, 2026, and the application for July is due May 1, 2027. Non-standard testing accommodation applications are due on those same dates.
The fee is $876 for either exam, and every amount the Bar lists includes a 3% transaction fee. Someone who sat for the Alaska exam last time re-applies for $618, with a February 2027 sitter given until May 31, 2027 for the July exam. Laptop registration is $129. Withdrawal through February 3, 2027 for the February exam refunds the fee minus a $50 cancellation fee, and no refund is given after that; the transaction fee is never refunded.
To transfer a score to Alaska, an applicant must have a scaled UBE score of 270 or above, earned in another jurisdiction within five years before the Alaska application, and must meet Bar Rule 2, Section 1. NCBE must send an official transcript directly to the Bar. Every applicant faces a character and fitness determination that can take at least three to four months, and the Bar does not begin work until the online application and fee are in.
On August 27, 2026, the Board of Governors voted to send the Supreme Court a rule proposal adopting the NextGen UBE. The proposal would allow NextGen score transfers beginning with the July 2026 exam and an Alaska administration in July 2028, and it sets a NextGen score of 620 or above, which the Bar says maps to 270 on the legacy scale. It is a proposal, not yet a rule. The Bar's exam page also notes that from July 2026 the MEE no longer tests Conflict of Laws, Family Law, Trusts and Estates or Secured Transactions, and that Family Law and Trusts and Estates will appear on the MPT through February 2028.
Bar Rule 2, Section 2(2) asks for active practice in three of the five years immediately before applying, in any states, territories or the District of Columbia. The practice does not have to be in the state of application. Alaska does not require that the applicant's jurisdiction have reciprocity with Alaska.
The applicant submits three affidavits, and current or past employers, clients, associates, attorneys or judges may sign them. Together the affidavits must describe at least 750 hours a year of active practice, measured on a rolling five-year period back from the application date, and no single affidavit must cover 750 hours. The Bar says processing takes at least three to four months and cannot be expedited, because every application is already treated as a priority.
Source: Alaska Bar admission FAQ ↗
Alaska accepts an MPRE score taken not more than 8 years before the application, and the score may be submitted any time before admission (Bar Rule 5(a)). A candidate who plans to transfer a score after the results still has to turn in every item on the bar exam application checklist; an incomplete application is not processed, and without processing there is no exam permit, which is required to sit. The application fee and the ExamSoft laptop fee may be paid together.
The applicant must send the online application (with the 3% transaction fee that applies from January 15, 2026), a notarized Authorization & Release form, a photo submission form with two 2x2 passport-size photos mailed to the Bar, one properly executed standard applicant fingerprint card (the blue, double-sided Form FD-258), and a copy of an IRS Form I-9, a government-issued ID or a driver's license. Resident aliens add an affidavit sworn before a notary with enough facts for the Bar to verify status with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, and anyone with a military history adds the military form.
Several items must come straight to the Bar from the issuing authority, never through the applicant: the official UBE score transcript from NCBE, an original certificate of graduation on school letterhead verifying the degree and date (with the seal, if the school uses one), a certificate of good standing and a discipline history from every state bar of admission, each issued within the previous three months, and an MPRE score of 80 or higher taken not more than eight years before the application. The MPRE score may arrive any time before admission.
The Bar will not start processing until the online application and fee are in. Every applicant is subject to a character and fitness determination that takes at least 3 to 4 months, and a late fingerprint card or release form causes delay that the Bar says it cannot speed up. When the investigation and documents are complete the application goes to the Board of Governors, which discusses applicants only in Executive Session, and the soonest notice of approval is by email. The application must be kept current to the date of admission, and a blank or incomplete answer can delay or sink it.
If a transfer application is denied for character, or withdrawn after the character investigation starts, the Bar withholds $300. If it is denied for failing to show eligibility, or withdrawn before the investigation starts, the Bar withholds $50. The 3% transaction fee is never refunded. For the exam, a withdrawal through February 3, 2027 for the February exam lets the Bar keep a $50 cancellation fee, and after that date there is no refund, and the same pattern applies to July.
The Alaska exam is given in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau, on February 23 and 24, 2027 and July 27 and 28, 2027. Starting with the July 2026 exam, Conflict of Laws, Family Law, Trusts and Estates and Secured Transactions are no longer tested on the MEE. From July 2026 through February 2028, Family Law and Trusts and Estates are tested regularly on the Multistate Performance Test instead.
On August 27, 2026 the Board of Governors voted to send the Supreme Court a Bar Rule proposal adopting the NextGen UBE, with transfers allowed from the July 2026 exam and Alaska's own administration in July 2028, at a scaled score of 620 that maps to the Legacy 270.
Source: Alaska Bar Exam Dates, Deadlines, Fees, and Locations ↗
The Alaska Bar Association posts a results page for each exam with the number of applicants, the number passing, and the same two figures for first-time takers. The fourteen exams in the table below (the association has no results page for July 2020) cover 684 applicants and 388 passers, about 56.7% overall, and 330 of 492 first-time takers passing, 67.1%. Alaska's exams are small: the range is 25 applicants in February 2025 to 85 in July 2025.
July is the larger sitting and the easier one by these counts. The six July exams passed 228 of 381 (59.8%), and the eight February exams passed 160 of 303 (52.8%). The highest overall rate was 75% in February 2023 (27 of 36) and the lowest 38% in February 2019 (12 of 32). February 2026 is the one exam where first-time takers did worse than the group: 7 of 16 first-timers passed (44%), while the other 15 applicants, who were repeaters, passed 8 of 15 (53%).
The Association says the July 2026 results will be announced at the Board of Governors meeting on October 26 and 27, 2026, and that all applicants are notified by mail and email.
Source: Alaska Bar Association: February 2026 Alaska Bar Exam Results ↗
A scaled score of 270 or above, earned in another jurisdiction within five years before you apply to Alaska. NCBE must send the official transcript directly to the Bar.
December 1, 2026, for the February 23-24, 2027 exam. Non-standard testing requests are due the same day, and the fee is $876 including a 3% transaction fee.
$876 for a new applicant, which already includes a 3% transaction fee, and $618 for someone who sat for the Alaska exam last time. Laptop registration adds $129.
No. Alaska does not require that your state have reciprocity with it. You need to have actively practiced law for three of the last five years in any state, territory or the District of Columbia.
At least 750 hours a year, and the affidavits are counted together. You do not need one affidavit to cover 750 hours, and the five years are measured back from your application date instead of by calendar year.
Alaska accepts an MPRE score taken not more than 8 years before your application, and you can submit it any time before admission.
At least three to four months, because character and fitness has to be finished first and then the Board of Governors votes at a regular meeting. The Bar cannot expedite an application.
Not yet. On August 27, 2026, the Board of Governors voted to send the Supreme Court a proposal that would adopt it, with a NextGen score of 620 mapping to 270 on the legacy UBE and an Alaska administration in July 2028.
One properly executed standard applicant card, the blue double-sided Form FD-258, mailed to the Bar. Any fingerprint provider can supply it, or the Bar office can mail one.
At least 3 to 4 months, and a late fingerprint card or release form adds delay the Bar says it cannot expedite.
Issued within the previous three months, for a certificate of good standing and a discipline history from every state bar where you are admitted.
$300 if withdrawn after the character investigation starts or denied for character, and $50 if withdrawn before it starts or denied for not showing eligibility. The 3% transaction fee is never refunded.
Conflict of Laws, Family Law, Trusts and Estates and Secured Transactions, starting with the July 2026 exam. Family Law and Trusts and Estates are tested on the MPT through February 2028.
48%: the Alaska Bar Association reports 15 of 31 applicants passing, and 7 of 16 first-time takers (44%).
At the Board of Governors meeting on October 26 and 27, 2026, according to the Alaska Bar Association. Applicants are notified by mail and email, and results are also posted on its website.
Compare other state bar exam guides: Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware
Source: NCBE Comprehensive Guide: Alaska ↗ · reviewed August 21, 2026.