Is Michigan a UBE State? Score Transfers and Requirements

Yes, Michigan is a UBE state. The Michigan Supreme Court adopted the Uniform Bar Examination beginning with the February 2023 administration, and the current format remains in place through at least early 2028.¹ The passing score is 268 out of 400, and scores earned on the Michigan UBE transfer to other UBE jurisdictions on the same terms as any other state’s. Michigan is scheduled to move to the NextGen UBE in July 2028, which will replace the current exam entirely.²

What Taking the UBE in Michigan Looks Like

The exam runs two days in the standard UBE structure.³ Day one is two 90-minute Multistate Performance Test tasks in the morning and six 30-minute Multistate Essay Examination questions in the afternoon. Day two is the 200-question Multistate Bar Examination, split into two three-hour sessions.

The MBE tests Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts. The MEE adds Business Associations, Conflict of Laws, Family Law, and Secured Transactions. The MPT isn’t a knowledge test; you work from a provided file and library to produce something like a memo or brief.

Scores are weighted 50% MBE, 30% MEE, and 20% MPT, and reported on a 400-point scale.⁴ Michigan’s Board of Law Examiners set the cut score at 268, which sits in the middle of the range used by UBE jurisdictions.³ Some states accept scores as low as 260; others require 270 or higher.

Transferring a UBE Score Into Michigan

Because Michigan is a UBE jurisdiction, you don’t have to retake the exam if you’ve already passed the UBE elsewhere. To transfer a score into Michigan, three conditions apply:⁵

The score must be 268 or higher.
The score cannot be older than three years.
The score must come from a complete UBE administration that you passed.

The transfer works the other direction too. If you take the exam in Michigan and hit 268, you can send that score to another UBE state, subject to that state’s own minimum and recency rules.

Transferring a score doesn’t skip Michigan’s other admission requirements. Score-transfer applicants still complete the Michigan Law Basics training and clear character and fitness, the same as people who sit for the exam here.³

What Michigan Requires Beyond the UBE Score

A UBE score, on its own, doesn’t admit you. Michigan layers three additional requirements on top.

Michigan Law Basics

Every applicant — exam taker, score transferor, or attorney seeking admission without examination — must complete the Michigan Law Basics online training through the Institute of Continuing Legal Education.³ It covers six areas of Michigan law: Civil Litigation, Criminal Law, Family Law, Probate and Estate Planning, Real Property, and Torts and No-Fault.⁶ Official exam results are not released until it’s done, so finishing early avoids a holdup at the end.

MPRE

Michigan requires an MPRE score of 85. The MPRE is administered separately by the NCBE three times a year, and most applicants take it during law school. A passing MPRE score is valid indefinitely in Michigan, so there’s no need to coordinate it with your bar exam sitting.⁷

Character and Fitness

Michigan runs a broad character and fitness review built around the Affidavit of Personal History, which covers thirteen categories including education, employment, residences, military service, financial history, civil litigation, and criminal history.⁸ Every applicant is fingerprinted, with prints submitted to the Michigan State Police and potentially forwarded to the FBI; the applicant pays the state and federal fees.⁹

A few pieces trip people up:

You need criminal history reports from every state where you’ve lived, worked, attended school, or vacationed for more than two consecutive weeks during the ten years before applying.
You need certified driving records from every state and from Ontario, Canada, where you’ve spent more than two consecutive weeks in the past decade.
All time since high school graduation must be accounted for, including internships, externships, and volunteer work lasting two weeks or longer.
Anything that changes before admission (a new traffic ticket, a lawsuit, a job change) requires you to amend and supplement the affidavit.

If you’re already licensed elsewhere, Michigan’s Character and Fitness Department also wants a certified copy of every prior bar application and a Certificate of Good Standing sent directly to it.⁸

How Long Michigan Will Stay a UBE State

The current UBE is not permanent in Michigan. In November 2025, the Michigan Supreme Court approved a transition to the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination, with the first NextGen administration in Michigan scheduled for July 2028.² Until then, the current “Legacy UBE” continues.

NextGen is structurally different. It replaces the separate MBE, MEE, and MPT with an integrated format combining multiple-choice questions, integrated question sets, and performance tasks that include a legal research component, and it is scored on a 500 to 750 scale rather than the current 400-point scale. Connecticut, Idaho, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington are among the jurisdictions moving to NextGen starting in July 2026, two years ahead of Michigan.¹⁰

For applicants sitting between now and February 2028, the Michigan bar exam is the Legacy UBE described above. For anyone planning to sit in July 2028 or later, the exam will look different, and the NCBE has published a blueprint and sample questions for early preparation.

1
Michigan Courts. It’s Official: Michigan Adopts Uniform Bar Exam
2
Michigan Courts. Supreme Court Approves New Bar Exam for Michigan in 2028
3
Michigan Courts. Uniform Bar Exam 2026
4
National Conference of Bar Examiners. UBE Scores
5
Michigan Courts. Admission to the Bar in Michigan
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Michigan Courts. Board of Law Examiners to Launch Michigan Law Training Component in Connection with the First Administration of the UBE in Michigan
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Michigan Courts. Board of Law Examiners Frequently Asked Questions
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State Bar of Michigan. Michigan Bar Exam and Character and Fitness Application Instructions and Information
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Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 600-949 – Investigation of Applicants to State Bar of Michigan
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NCBE. NextGen Bar Exam