Wisconsin

Verified

Imported 2026-09-27 — not yet reviewed; confirm with the admitting authority.

How to apply

Admitting agencyWisconsin Board of Bar Examiners

Application portalApply online

Character & fitnessThis jurisdiction does not use NCBE's character and fitness services; please contact Wisconsin for filing instructions. MPRE/character timing: character & fitness application should be filed with the bar exam application by the jurisdiction's filing deadline; most jurisdictions require the NCBE Character and Fitness Application to be submitted online via ncbex.org regardless of whether NCBE conducts the investigation.

Exam & score rules

Exam typeUBE (legacy); NextGen UBE first administration July 2028; Wisconsin has three admission tracks: (1) standard UBE bar exam, (2) admission on motion, and (3) DIPLOMA PRIVILEGE for graduates of Wisconsin's two ABA-approved law schools (University of Wisconsin and Marquette University) who complete required coursework (60 semester credits across mandated subjects per SCR Ch. 40) and pass character & fitness - NO bar exam required for those graduates.

UBE min scoreLegacy UBE: 260; NextGen UBE: TBA

MPRE requiredNot required

Education requirementABA-approved JD required: No; Alternatives accepted: Non-ABA-approved out-of-state law school (additional: Bar admission in another state); Foreign-educated graduates eligible: Yes (Legal education in English common law, additional education at an ABA-approved law school, practice of law in foreign jurisdiction, determination of educational equivalency)

Other required components

Local law componentNo separate add-on component for UBE-route applicants per NCBE, but graduates using diploma privilege must satisfy SCR Ch. 40 curriculum requirements (60 credits in specified subjects) in lieu of an exam.

Other pathsDiploma Privilege (SCR 40.02/40.03): UW and Marquette Law School graduates who timely file and meet character & fitness standards are admitted WITHOUT taking any bar exam. This is one of only two US jurisdictions offering diploma privilege of this kind (the other being New Hampshire's limited Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program, not a blanket diploma privilege). Admission on motion (3 of past 5 years, non-reciprocity) also available and diploma-privilege admittees ARE eligible for admission-on-motion into Wisconsin from other jurisdictions' bars per NCBE data (aom_diploma_priv_eligible: Yes) - note this describes Wisconsin accepting other diploma-privilege admittees, separate from WI's own diploma privilege grant.

Transfer options

Accepts transferred UBEYes (accepts legacy UBE: Yes; NextGen UBE: TBA); max score age: 36 months

UBE transfer acceptedyes

Score age limitnot confirmed - see NCBE UBE Maximum Score Age chart

Admission on motion

Allows AOMyes

Reciprocal onlyno

Years of practicenot individually confirmed (WI historically had very limited/no traditional AOM alongside diploma privilege; transitioning to UBE July 2026 which will enable normal UBE-transfer-based reciprocity)

AOM feenot confirmed

Other requirementsHistorically: UW and Marquette grads get diploma privilege (no bar exam at all) under SCR 40.03; all other applicants took the WI bar exam. Starting July 2026, WI adopts the (Next Gen) UBE, and WI will accept UBE transfer scores of 260+ earned elsewhere within 36 months, PLUS a new 21-hour Wisconsin law & practice educational component. MPRE is NOT required in WI (one of only two jurisdictions, with Puerto Rico, that doesn't require it).

Official AOM source

Essays & sample answers

Publishes past essaysno dedicated public archive found on wicourts.gov

Years availableConfirm with the admitting authority.

Sample answersno

Exam typeUBE (Wisconsin may blend MEE/MPT/locally drafted essay questions per Kaplan/BARBRI descriptions)

Essay archive / sample answers

wicourts.gov hosts application forms and rule-petition documents but no past bar-exam essay/answer archive was found in this session.

Fees & deadlines

Feesfirst_time_applicant: $450 / $850; attorney_applicant: $450 / $850; repeater: $450; late_fee_note: Late fees reflected in the higher figure(s) shown for the filing-deadline fields above where jurisdiction publishes a two-tier fee; laptop_fee: $163

Application deadlinesjuly_2026_regular: May 1; july_2026_late: June 1; february_2027_regular: Dec. 1; february_2027_late: Jan. 1

Next exam datesUBE jurisdictions administer the exam on the NCBE-set dates, generally the last Tue/Wed of Feb and July; New York has confirmed July 28-29, 2026 for the July 2026 administration. Confirm exact per-jurisdiction dates on the agency site; NCBE filing-deadline data above is confirmed for July 2026 / February 2027.

Possible multi-bar pathways

Researched examples that name Wisconsin. Discovery content only — not eligibility approval.

Diploma privilege (Wisconsin) + future UBE portability

Graduates of University of Wisconsin or Marquette University law schools are admitted to the WI bar with NO bar exam at all (diploma privilege, SCR 40.03) — but this WI-only license historically had limited onward portability since WI wasn't a UBE state. WI is now a UBE jurisdiction (NCBE: it plans to give the NextGen UBE starting July 2028), so a WI diploma-privilege attorney can layer on a UBE sitting (in WI or elsewhere) to gain a portable score for other UBE jurisdictions, while still using diploma privilege for WI itself.

MBE score transfer (non-UBE states) — VA, FL, MI(reciprocal-only), WV, WI, others

A distinct, less-known portability path: several non-UBE (or partially-UBE) jurisdictions authorize NCBE to transfer a candidate's raw MBE (Multistate Bar Exam) scaled score — separate from the UBE's combined score — to another jurisdiction that accepts transferred MBE scores, letting a candidate skip re-taking the MBE portion of a second state's own exam.

Official sources

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Source 4

MPRE NOT required in Wisconsin. NextGen UBE first administration announced for July 2028; Legacy UBE final administration February 2028; both are "TBA" for min passing score as of Sep 2026 NCBE data pull.

VerdictUp is a study aid and does not provide legal advice or guarantee admission. Confirm with the admitting authority.