Oregon bar exam: NextGen UBE now.
| July exam | Apr. 15, late filing May 15 |
| February exam | Nov. 15, late filing Dec. 15 |
| Fees | First-time $1,000; attorney $1,600; repeater $1,000 / $1,600; laptop $150 |
| MPRE minimum | 85 |
Dates can change. Check the board’s site before you pay.
Before filing in Oregon, check the current NCBE profile ↗.
| Rule | Oregon Rules for Admission of Attorneys, Rule 18.1: Military Spouse Attorney |
| Accommodation | Admission without exam; $1,350 fee; must apply within 6 months of the PCS order |
| Duration | Tied to spouse's Oregon station |
| Supervision | Not stated in the sources located |
| Adopted | 2016 (effective March 1, 2016) |
Confirm current status directly with Oregon's bar admission authority ↗: this area of law shifted federally in December 2024 and states are still catching up.
Oregon gave the NextGen bar exam in July 2026, and the Bar said results were anticipated by October 16, 2026, or earlier if possible, with a swearing-in ceremony later in October. The February exam application becomes available online only after the July results are released. Every applicant must register a laptop with NCBE and pay a $149 laptop registration fee.
Source: Oregon bar admissions page ↗
Oregon offers a route to admission that skips the bar exam: the Supervised Practice Portfolio Examination, or SPPE. An applicant cannot file until four things have happened: the applicant has an offer of employment, the employer has submitted an application, the supervising attorney has submitted an application, and the Admissions Office has approved both the employer and the supervising attorney as qualified.
Some lawyers may be admitted without taking the bar exam, and each alternate route has its own requirements. Every applicant, on any route, must still show good moral character under ORS 9.220. Comity applicants must complete 15 credit hours of Board-approved CLE: at least two on Oregon legal ethics, four on Oregon civil practice and procedure, and nine general credits emphasizing Oregon law.
Under Rule for Admission 6.2, each applicant's name is published at least 45 days before admission as part of the character and fitness review, and the Bar asks licensees to tell the Board of anything bearing on an applicant's moral character. Applicants for the exam, comity, score transfer, house counsel and SPPE are all listed. After admission, a new Oregon admittee has 15 credit hours of CLE due in the first reporting period, including two in ethics and ten in practical skills (Rule 8.2(2) of the Rules of Licensure).
The Oregon State Bar lists an overall pass rate for each exam on its results page. July 2025 was 74.5% and February 2026 was 41.7%, the second-lowest February figure on the list, which reaches back to 2012, after 40% in February 2023. Oregon's July rate stayed between 69% and 79% in every exam from 2021 to 2025 (79% in July 2021, 74% in 2022, 69% in 2023, 74% in 2024, 74.5% in 2025), and July 2020 was 93%.
February rates are lower and swing more: 64% in 2021, 68% in 2022, 40% in 2023, 50% in 2024, 50% in 2025 and 41.7% in 2026. The Bar's page notes that the lists it posts are unofficial and that official notice of passing or failing comes by mail from the Oregon Supreme Court, and that passing is only one requirement for admission: an applicant cannot practice until sworn in as a licensee.
Yes. Oregon administered the NextGen exam in July 2026 and said results were anticipated by October 16, 2026. The February exam application opens online after those results are released.
Yes, through the Supervised Practice Portfolio Examination or a route such as comity. The SPPE needs a job offer, an employer application, a supervising attorney application and Admissions Office approval of both before you may file.
15 credit hours approved by the Board: at least two in Oregon legal ethics, four in Oregon civil practice and procedure, and nine general credits emphasizing Oregon law.
$149. Every applicant registers a laptop with NCBE and pays that fee.
Yes. Rule for Admission 6.2 requires the Bar to publish each applicant's name at least 45 days before admission, so that licensees can raise information about the applicant's moral character.
15 credit hours in the first reporting period after admission, including two in ethics and ten in practical skills, under Rule 8.2(2) of the Rules of Licensure.
A graduate of a foreign law school applying under Rule 3.1(3) must have the school evaluated for equivalence to an ABA-accredited school by a third-party evaluator. The Bar lists A2Z Evaluations, International Consultants of Delaware, Education Research Foundation, Education Records Evaluation Service, SpanTran, Foundation for International Services and World Education Services.
Good moral character under ORS 9.220. Every applicant on an alternate route, such as comity, must still demonstrate it, and each applicant's name is published at least 45 days before admission.
74.5%, according to the Oregon State Bar's exam results page, against 50% for February 2025.
The Bar's page lists the rates but does not say why. The lists show February at 40% to 68% since 2021 and July at 69% to 79%, so the gap is real in every one of those years.
Compare other state bar exam guides: Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas
Source: NCBE Comprehensive Guide: Oregon ↗ · reviewed August 21, 2026.