California Bar Exam cost and fees for 2027: every charge for general and attorney applicants

Last verified: September 24, 2026. Applies to: the February 23–24, 2027 sitting. The State Bar has not posted fees for July 2027 or February 2028; the same amounts are expected but not confirmed.

The California Bar Exam application fee is $878 for a general applicant and $1,650 for an attorney applicant under the State Bar's current Schedule of Charges (Appendix A). That is the exam alone. To reach a license you also pay registration ($155 or $310), the moral character determination ($900 or $1,054), the laptop fee ($153) and the MPRE ($185, paid to the NCBE). Our arithmetic from those official figures: $2,271 for a general applicant and $3,352 for an attorney applicant, before late fees, card charges and bar preparation.

Two terms decide every number below. A general applicant is a person who has never been admitted to practice law anywhere. That includes a J.D. graduate and a foreign law graduate who qualifies through an LL.M. An attorney applicant is a person who is or has been admitted to practice law in any jurisdiction, U.S. or foreign (Rule 4.3(B), Title 4 rules PDF). A lawyer licensed in China, Korea or Japan is an attorney applicant and pays the higher tier, even though they take the same two-day exam as a general applicant. A lapsed or surrendered foreign license still puts you in the attorney tier, so budget at the higher amounts even if you no longer practice. Eligibility for foreign-trained lawyers explains which tier applies to you.

Every charge in one table

All State Bar amounts come from Appendix A (web page; PDF). The NCBE's California chart prints the same exam and laptop figures (NCBE chart).

The full list, including post-admission charges, is on Fees.

Three worked totals

These are our sums from the table for one sitting with a laptop, timely filing, and payment by bank transfer.

Three notes on the columns:

• A foreign-admitted lawyer and a U.S. attorney pay the same amount, but the foreign lawyer sits both days. The one-day Attorneys' Exam is limited to applicants admitted to the active practice of law in a U.S. jurisdiction for at least four years before the exam (Rule 4.3(C)). The MPRE, moral character determination and a certificate of good standing are still required for the Attorneys' Exam (Attorney Applicants). Foreign-admitted attorneys "must take the General Bar Exam" (February 2026 statistics, footnote).
• The LL.M. column leaves out the credential evaluation that a foreign law graduate needs before registering. That report is bought from a State Bar-approved agency, not from the State Bar. Third-party prices reported in our research run from about $110 to $244; the State Bar publishes no figure (approved services list).
• A repeat sitting costs the exam fee and the laptop fee again. Registration and moral character are not repeated while the determination is valid.

Card payments add 2.5 percent to each charge; an ACH bank transfer is free (Appendix A). On the $1,650 exam fee that is about $41; on $878 about $22.

When each fee is due for February 2027

The order matters because registration must be approved before any other application can be filed (Rule 4.16(B), Title 4 rules PDF).

The full procedure, with document lists, is on How to apply.

The exam fee: $878 or $1,650

What the fee covers

One administration of the two-day General Bar Exam: five one-hour essays and one 90-minute Performance Test on Day 1, and the 200-question Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) on Day 2 (July 2026 exam page). Attorney applicants sitting the one-day Attorneys' Exam pay the same $1,650 for the written day only (Attorney Applicants). Each sitting needs a new application and a new fee. The subjects the fee buys you a test on are listed on Subjects.

Late fees for February 2027

Rule 4.61(A) sets November 1 as the timely deadline for a February exam and January 1 as the final deadline, and moves any deadline that falls on a non-business day to the next business day. For February 2027 that gives November 2, 2026 and January 4, 2027 (Dates and Deadlines; Title 4 rules PDF).

If you failed the July 2026 exam (results November 6, 2026), Rule 4.61(B) gives you separate deadlines in your results notice, at least ten days after results; the November 2 and January 4 dates and late fees above apply to first-time filers (Title 4 rules PDF).

Several secondary sites still print "November 1 / January 1." The State Bar's dates page controls.

Projected windows for July 2027

The State Bar has not posted the July 2027 exam. Applying Rule 4.61(A) and the Supreme Court's last-Tuesday scheduling order, the exam is expected on July 27–28, 2027, with applications opening March 1, 2027, a timely deadline of April 1, 2027, a $50 window from April 2 to 30, and a $250 window from May 1 to the final deadline of June 1, 2027 (Title 4 rules PDF; Court order S296951). Treat these as projections until Dates and Deadlines is updated. All sittings are tracked on Dates and deadlines.

Fee history, and the stale numbers you will see elsewhere

The Board of Trustees raised admissions fees on November 20–21, 2025 (Board release, November 2025). The general-applicant exam fee rose only by CPI (3.3 percent), which by our arithmetic takes $850 to $878. Other admissions fees, including attorney-applicant fees, registration and moral character, rose under the staff option. The attorney-applicant exam fee is now $1,650 in Appendix A; the previous Appendix A and NCBE figure was $1,500. The Appendix A page carries no year label; the current amounts follow that Board action.

Ranking prep-company pages measured in our research still show the old $850 and $1,500 exam fees, a $150 registration fee and moral character fees of $725 and $850. None of these match the current schedule. Use Appendix A.

Card or bank transfer

Card payments carry a 2.5 percent processing charge; ACH transfers from a U.S. bank account are free (Appendix A). The MPRE is paid to the NCBE, so the surcharge applies to the other $3,167 of the attorney-applicant total: about $79 if you pay all of it by card.

Registration: $155 or $310

Registration creates your file with the Office of Admissions. You open an account in the Applicant Portal, submit the Registration Application and pay $155 as a general applicant or $310 as an attorney applicant. All documents and fees must arrive within 60 days of submitting, or the registration is deemed abandoned and no refund is issued (Rule 4.16(B); Registration).

Attorney applicants must also mail an original Certificate of Good Standing from their home bar, dated within six months, with a certified English translation and the original-language document (Proof of Admission and Good Standing; Foreign Admitted Attorneys). The certificate and the translation are paid to your home bar and a translator; the State Bar sets no price for them.

Foreign law graduates on the LL.M. route register as general applicants and file the credential evaluation report and the Foreign Law Study Evaluation Summary form instead (Registration). An optional Legal Education Evaluation from the State Bar costs $106 and takes three to four weeks (Legal Education Evaluation).

Moral character determination: $900 or $1,054

The moral character determination is a background investigation that every applicant must pass before admission. The fee is $900 for a general applicant and $1,054 for an attorney applicant (Rule 4.41(B), Appendix A PDF).

Timing drives the cost here more than the fee itself:

• Applications are processed in a minimum of 180 days from the date they are deemed complete, and a minimum of one year if an informal conference is needed. The State Bar recommends filing at least 8 to 10 months before the date you want to be admitted (Application Process).
• A positive determination is valid for 36 months (Rule 4.51). If it will expire before you are admitted, an extension costs $360 for a general applicant or $496 for an attorney applicant and may be filed no sooner than 30 months and no later than 36 months after the determination (Application Process). Filing far too early can therefore cost you a second fee.
• Fingerprints are due within 60 days of submitting your application (Fingerprint Instructions PDF). An incomplete application can be deemed abandoned without refund (Rule 4.43). In California you use Live Scan. Outside California you submit two FBI FD-258 cards taken by a law enforcement agency or a DOJ/FBI-certified technician and mail them to the Los Angeles Office of Admissions (Fingerprint Instructions PDF). The fingerprinting agency's charge is not a State Bar fee.
• All foreign-language documents need a certified English translation, including driving records, which must be certified copies issued within six months covering at least five years (Application Instructions PDF).
• An appeal of an adverse determination costs $531 (Rule 4.47(A)).

Card payments for this application also carry the 2.5 percent processing fee (Application Instructions PDF).

MPRE: $185 to the NCBE

The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination is a separate national ethics exam. Every applicant must pass it, and the score must be on file before you are certified for admission (Rule 4.59). California requires a scaled score of at least 86 and sets no time limit on when the score was earned (State Bar MPRE page).

The fee is $185 for all 2026 and 2027 administrations, paid to the NCBE (NCBE MPRE registration). You pay it again for each attempt.

Each administration offers two dates; you test on one of them.

Register with the State Bar first, designate California when you register for the MPRE, and add your NCBE number in the Applicant Portal so the score is reported (State Bar MPRE page). Certifying an MPRE score older than 15 years costs $27 (Appendix A PDF).

Laptop fee: $153, and the ExamSoft rules

Typing the essays and the Performance Test is optional. If you type, you pay $153 and use ExamSoft's Examplify software on your own laptop. If you handwrite, there is no fee. Changing from handwriting to laptop after you file costs $60 (Appendix A PDF; Laptops for the Bar Exam).

Rules that can turn the $153 into a wasted fee:

• The laptop must be a Windows or Mac laptop with a screen no larger than 17.3 inches. Desktops, iPads, tablets with detachable keyboards and backup laptops are not allowed (Laptops for the Bar Exam).
• You must complete a mandatory mock exam (up to five attempts) by the published deadline; for July 2026 that was July 24. If the mock exam is not uploaded, you must handwrite (July 2026 Admittance Ticket Bulletin).
• Answer files are due by noon Pacific time the day after the exam. A late upload costs ten scaled points (Laptops for the Bar Exam).
• Day 2 needs no laptop. The MBE is answered on a Scantron sheet with a No. 2 pencil (July 2026 exam page).

For a non-native writer, typing is usually worth the fee: it lets you reorganize an IRAC answer (issue, rule, application, conclusion) without rewriting it. Bring the power cord and a charged battery either way.

Costs the State Bar does not publish

These are real costs with no official price. Do not trust a number for them unless you get a quote.

• Travel and lodging. The exam is in person at State Bar sites in California only; there is no remote sitting and no out-of-state sitting. July 2026 standard sites were the Ontario Convention Center, Pasadena Convention Center, USC Galen Center, Oakland Convention Center, @the Grounds in Roseville and the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center; the February 2027 sites are not yet posted (July 2026 exam page). On Day 1 you must be seated by 8:20 a.m., and the day ends about 5:30 p.m., so plan hotel nights before and between the two days.
• Visa documents. Our research found no official State Bar visa-support letter procedure. The closest official document is the $17 Letter of Verification of registration, fees paid or admission, requested through a General Request in the Applicant Portal (Appendix A PDF). Candidates also use the exam application receipt and the Admittance Ticket.
• Certificate of Good Standing, translations, fingerprint cards and courier. Paid to your home bar, a certified translator, the fingerprinting agency and the courier. Original documents must be physically mailed to Los Angeles.
• Credential evaluation for the LL.M. route, described above.

Bar preparation prices (fetched September 24, 2026)

Preparation is usually the largest line in the budget. The prices below were fetched from vendor pages on September 24, 2026; promotional prices change often, so check the linked page before paying.

Two patterns matter for readers of this site. First, the international and LL.M. tracks from the same vendor are priced 1.3 to 2 times the domestic course. Second, prep-company pages are not a reliable source for State Bar fees; one ranking guide still lists $850 and $1,500. Check every State Bar number against Appendix A yourself. AntCABar is written for non-native English readers who are studying for the February 2027, July 2027 or February 2028 sitting; plans are on Pricing.

After you pass

Small charges continue after the results:

• Supreme Court enrollment fee: $5 (Appendix A PDF).
• Wall certificate: the standard certificate is free; a custom certificate costs $92. Appendix A lists an "Admission Certificate" at $95, but the more recent successful-applicant bulletin says the standard certificate is free of charge (July 2025 Successful Applicants Bulletin).
• First annual license fee: $598 for an active attorney in 2026, prorated to $299 if you take the oath on or after June 1, and waived for that calendar year if you take the oath on or after December 1 (Step 4; Appendix A PDF).

July 2027, February 2028 and the NextGen exam

July 2027 and February 2028. These are expected to be the last two sittings of the current format. The NextGen exam starts in July 2028. The State Bar has posted no fees for them. The Appendix A amounts above are the working assumption, but the State Bar's 2025 Annual Report projects an admissions-fund shortfall of about $2.8 million, which could prompt another fee change (2025 Annual Report, Admissions). Check Appendix A before each payment.

July 2028 and later. The Supreme Court has approved the NextGen UBE from July 2028 (Court order S296951). The only published figure is the NCBE technology fee, "currently" $145, for the exam delivered on the applicant's laptop at sites in Roseville, Oakland and Ontario (Notices page). State Bar application fees for 2028 have not been published. U.S.-licensed attorneys should note that there may be no Attorneys' Exam in July 2028 or February 2029, and the State Bar tells them to take it no later than February 2028 (State Bar notice, July 15, 2026). The full timeline is on the exam overview.

Refunds and abandoned applications

• Moral character or extension application. If you withdraw within 30 days of the online submission date, you receive a 60 percent refund of the application fee. There is no refund after 30 days, and none if the application is abandoned (Application Process).
• Exam application. It is deemed abandoned, with no refund, if it is incomplete or unsigned by the final filing deadline, or if your eligibility cannot be decided by the final eligibility deadline (Rule 4.61(C), Title 4 rules PDF). For withdrawing a complete exam application, ask the Office of Admissions before you file.
• Registration. It is abandoned with no refund if documents and fees are not received within 60 days (Rule 4.16(B)).

Ways to pay less

1. File the exam application by November 2, 2026 if you are a first-time filer. Late filing costs $50 or $250 for the same seat. July 2026 repeaters follow the deadlines in their results notice.
2. Pay by ACH bank transfer, not card. The 2.5 percent card charge is about $79 on the attorney applicant's State Bar fees.
3. Decide laptop or handwriting before you file. A late change costs $60.
4. Time the moral character application 8 to 10 months before your target admission date, not years before. An extension costs $360 or $496.
5. Send registration documents within 60 days and fingerprints within 60 days. Both applications are abandoned without refund otherwise.
6. Register for one MPRE date you can meet. Each attempt is $185.
7. Compare prep tracks by what they teach, not by tier name. Some international tracks cost twice the domestic course from the same vendor.

Sources

• Appendix A, Schedule of Charges and Deadlines and the Appendix A PDF
• Board of Trustees fee action, November 2025
• State Bar Dates and Deadlines
• Rules of the State Bar, Title 4, Division 1
• Attorney Applicants and the February 2026 statistics
• Registration and Proof of Admission and Good Standing
• Moral Character Determination, Application Process, Application Instructions and Fingerprint Instructions
• State Bar MPRE page and NCBE MPRE registration
• Laptops for the Bar Exam, July 2026 exam page and July 2026 Admittance Ticket Bulletin
• Supreme Court Administrative Order S296951, July 15, 2026, State Bar notice, July 15, 2026 and Notices page
• State Bar 2025 Annual Report, Admissions