Colorado bar exam: Legacy or current exam until July 2028; NextGen afterward.
| July exam | Mar. 31, late filing Apr. 30 |
| February exam | Oct. 31, late filing Nov. 30 |
| Fees | First-time $710; attorney $710; repeater $410 / $510; laptop $0 |
| MPRE minimum | 85 |
Dates can change. Check the board’s site before you pay.
Before filing in Colorado, check the current NCBE profile ↗.
| Rule | Colo. R. Civ. P. 204.4: Military Spouse Certification |
| Accommodation | No bar exam; truncated character-and-fitness review; MCLE professionalism course required; practice time counts toward later full reciprocity admission |
| Duration | Expires when spouse's active-duty orders in Colorado end |
| Supervision | Not required |
| Adopted | 2014 |
Confirm current status directly with Colorado's bar admission authority ↗: this area of law shifted federally in December 2024 and states are still catching up.
The February 2027 Colorado bar exam is February 23-24, 2027, at the Douglas County Fairgrounds Event Center in Castle Rock. Beginning with that exam, applicants file through a new platform, ILG Admissions Manager, and an unsuccessful July 2026 applicant must re-apply in that new system instead of the older CiviCore one.
For a standard applicant the February exam's timely window runs September 1 to October 31, with a late window of November 1 to 30. The July exam's timely window is February 1 to March 31, with a late window of April 1 to 30. The February fee is $710 on time and $910 late, and July is the same. An applicant who withdrew properly from the previous Colorado exam pays $510 on time and $710 late. An applicant who sat and failed the previous exam re-applies for $410 by October 31 or May 31, or $610 by November 30 for February only. Late fees are not waived for technical problems, and every fee is nonrefundable.
Source: Colorado Fees & Deadlines ↗
Colorado admits by UBE score earned in another state within three years before the Colorado application. The minimum qualifying scaled score is 270 for exams from February 2023 on, and 276 for any exam before that. A score between three and five years old can qualify when combined with two years of law practice immediately before applying.
NCBE sends the score directly to the Office of Attorney Admissions, and it must arrive within 45 days after the Colorado application is filed. A score cannot be transferred until it has been released in the jurisdiction where it was earned. The application fee is $810. If the office finds a UBE applicant ineligible, the applicant has 30 days to move the application to the next bar exam or withdraw it, with no refund.
Rule 203.2 admits an out-of-state lawyer who was admitted by examination in another U.S. jurisdiction, holds a JD from an ABA-accredited school, and has practiced in authorized, active practice for at least three of the last five years before applying. The applicant must be in good standing everywhere admitted, free of pending discipline, and current on CLE requirements. The fee is $1,800.
Colorado states that it does not require admission in a reciprocal jurisdiction. A lawyer who has never taken a bar exam anywhere in the United States does not qualify for admission on motion. The rules include a procedure for asking the court to waive an eligibility requirement (Rule 206).
Source: On Motion admission ↗
The passing MPRE score for Colorado is 85. An applicant does not need a valid score to submit the application, but must have one before taking the oath. An on-motion applicant's score is valid if earned within five years before the application. A licensed lawyer who has practiced 15 or more years, has no public discipline, and took the MPRE for admission elsewhere does not have to take it again.
Every full-license applicant must also complete the mandatory Practicing with Professionalism Course, which is separate from the MPRE and is required before the oath.
Source: MPRE Score ↗
Colorado's Office of Attorney and LLP Admissions posts a law school table with each set of results. For July 2026 it shows 700 examinees, of whom 493 passed, 70%. First-time examinees passed at 79% (479 of 604) and repeaters at 15% (14 of 96). Among first-timers, the University of Colorado had 135 examinees and an 84% pass rate, the University of Denver 211 and 83%, and other ABA schools 241 and 76%. Foreign-educated and non-ABA first-timers passed at 29% (5 of 17).
Repeaters had a harder time at every school. Denver repeaters passed at 19% (4 of 21), other ABA repeaters at 15% (8 of 55), and foreign-educated and non-ABA repeaters at 6% (1 of 18). Across all examinees, Colorado's graduates passed at 84% (115 of 137) and Denver's at 78% (180 of 232), while other ABA schools came in at 65% (192 of 296).
Colorado requires a scaled score of 270 for UBE administrations from February 2023 on, and 276 for anything earlier. The score must be no more than three years old at application, with a longer window only when combined with two years of recent practice.
For February, the timely window is September 1 through October 31 and the late window is November 1 through 30. For July, the timely window is February 1 through March 31 and the late window is April 1 through 30.
A standard applicant pays $710 on time and $910 late. An applicant who withdrew from the last exam pays $510 or $710, and one who failed the last exam pays $410 or $610 to re-apply.
Three of the last five years before you apply, plus admission by examination elsewhere and an ABA-accredited JD. Colorado does not require admission in a listed reciprocal jurisdiction.
A UBE score transfer application is $810, and admission on motion is $1,800. All Colorado application fees are nonrefundable.
85. You do not need the score to file, but you must have it before you can take the oath of admission.
Yes, in one case. A licensed lawyer with 15 or more years of authorized active practice, no public discipline, and a prior MPRE taken for admission in another U.S. jurisdiction is not required to retake it.
70% overall (493 of 700), and 79% for first-time examinees, according to the Office of Attorney and LLP Admissions.
Colorado, narrowly: among first-timers it was 84% for Colorado and 83% for Denver, and across all examinees 84% (115 of 137) against 78% (180 of 232), because Denver had more repeaters.
Compare other state bar exam guides: Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii
Source: NCBE Comprehensive Guide: Colorado ↗ · reviewed August 21, 2026.