You’ve probably heard the rumors. Law students love to whisper about how the MPRE is just a "common sense" test or how you can pass it by just "studying for a weekend." Honestly? That’s how people fail. While it isn’t the bar exam, it’s also not a walk in the park, especially because the score you need depends entirely on where you want to practice.
The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) is a weird beast. It’s a 60-question, two-hour marathon of ethics questions. But here’s the kicker: only 50 of those questions actually count. The other 10 are "experimental" questions the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) is testing out for future exams. You won't know which is which.
Basically, the passing MPRE scores by state range from a low of 75 to a high of 86. That might not seem like a big gap, but on a scaled score, every point is a battle.
The State-by-State Breakdown
It’s kinda wild that your "ethical fitness" is judged differently depending on whether you're in Alabama or California. Most jurisdictions hover around the 80 or 85 mark.
If you're looking for the easiest path (strictly based on numbers), you’ll want to be in a place like Georgia or Alabama. They only require a 75. On the flip side, if you're in California or Utah, you better hit the books harder because they demand an 86.
States Requiring an 85 or Higher
This is the "high bar" club. If you’re in these states, you’re looking at needing to get roughly 60% of the scored questions right, though the scaling makes it impossible to give an exact number.
- 86: California and Utah.
- 85: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire (actually 79, but often grouped here), New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.
Wait, I should clarify—New Hampshire is actually a 79. It’s the only state with that specific number. Why 79? Who knows. It’s just one of those legal quirks.
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The Middle Ground: Scores of 80 to 82
A lot of the "heartland" states fall into this bucket. It’s the most common tier.
- 82: Tennessee.
- 80: Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina (actually 77), Vermont, and West Virginia.
Wait, correction on South Carolina: they actually require a 77. Pennsylvania is also a 75. It’s easy to get these mixed up because jurisdictions change their minds occasionally. For example, Kentucky and Tennessee recently bumped their scores up.
The "Lower" Threshold: 75
Don't let the word "lower" fool you. You still have to know the Model Rules of Professional Conduct backward and forward.
- 75: Alabama, District of Columbia, Georgia, Mississippi, New Jersey, and the Virgin Islands.
Why the Scores Keep Changing
You might wonder why a state would suddenly decide that a lawyer needs an 80 instead of a 75 to be "ethical." It usually comes down to the state’s supreme court or bar examiners wanting to align with national averages.
According to the NCBE, the national mean scaled score for the November 2025 MPRE was 96.7. That’s actually a bit higher than the 95.6 we saw in late 2024. When the national average goes up, states often feel more comfortable raising their own minimum requirements.
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It’s also worth noting that Wisconsin is the lone wolf. They don't require the MPRE at all for admission via "diploma privilege" (for graduates of Wisconsin law schools), though they have their own ethics requirements. Puerto Rico is also an outlier with its own separate testing system.
Scaling: The Math That Scares Everyone
The MPRE isn't graded like a mid-term. You don't just count your correct answers and call it a day.
The NCBE uses a process called equating. Basically, they adjust the raw scores to account for the fact that some versions of the test are harder than others. If you take a "hard" MPRE in March, you might need fewer correct answers to get an 85 than someone taking an "easy" MPRE in August.
- 75 Scaled Score: Roughly 56% correct.
- 80 Scaled Score: Roughly 58% correct.
- 85 Scaled Score: Roughly 60% correct.
When you look at it that way, the difference between passing in Georgia (75) and passing in California (86) is only about three or four questions. That’s a tiny margin of error.
Real-World Nuances You Should Know
You’ve got to check the "expiration date" of your score. This is a huge trap for law students. Most states only let your MPRE score stay valid for two to five years. If you take the MPRE as a 2L but don't pass the bar or apply for admission for several years (maybe you go into consulting or take a gap year), your score might vanish.
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For instance, in California, your score is generally good for life once you're admitted, but for the initial application, it has to be relatively recent. In other states like Florida, they are very strict about the score being earned within a specific window—usually 25 months before or after the bar exam.
Also, some states allow you to swap the MPRE for a law school course. Connecticut is the big one here. They’ll accept a "C" or better in an ethics course in lieu of the MPRE. But honestly, most people just take the test anyway because it's easier than proving the course content to a bunch of bar examiners.
How to Actually Pass
Stop treating this like a common-sense test. The "ethical" answer is usually the one that protects the client the most, but sometimes the "legal" answer in the Model Rules is surprisingly cold.
- Memorize the "Musts" vs. "Mays": The exam loves to trip you up on whether a lawyer must disclose something or may disclose it. That one word is the difference between a point and a fail.
- Judicial Ethics Matter: About 10% of the test is on the Code of Judicial Conduct. Most students ignore this because they don't plan on being judges. Don't do that. It’s the easiest way to pick up "free" points.
- Take the Free Courses: Barbri, Themis, and JD Advising all offer free MPRE prep. Use them. There is no reason to pay for MPRE prep when the big companies give it away as a "hook" to get you to buy their bar prep later.
Moving Forward
The first thing you need to do is confirm your specific jurisdiction’s current requirement on the official NCBE website or your state’s Board of Bar Examiners page. Rules change.
Next, look at the timing. If you’re planning to practice in a state with a high score requirement like California (86), you should schedule your MPRE at least six months before your bar exam. Why? Because if you fail, you need another window to retake it without delaying your actual law license. Failing the MPRE is annoying; having your law career delayed by six months because you missed an 86 by one point is a tragedy.
Double-check the reciprocity rules too. If you think you might move states in the first few years of practice, aim for a score of 86. If you hit an 86, you are "safe" in every single jurisdiction in the country. It’s better to study a little harder now than to have to retake the entire exam five years from now because you only got an 80 and just moved to Texas.