News Releases

Board Offers Free July Bar Exam to Applicants Who Withdraw or Fail February Bar Exam

The Board of Trustees, at its February 21 meeting, approved a plan to offer a free July 2025 Bar Exam to test takers who withdraw from the February 2025 exam or fail next week’s test. The announcement comes after a tumultuous few weeks in rolling out the February 2025 Bar Exam.  

From Brandon Stallings, Chair, State Bar Board of Trustees: 

“The State Bar Board of Trustees is committed to addressing the myriad issues that have arisen leading up to the February 2025 California Bar Exam. This new exam has not rolled out the way it should have, and we, the Board, apologize along with State Bar leadership and staff. The continued issues with testing locations, scheduling, technical issues, and communication lapses have distracted applicants from their studies and created confusion. These problems are deeply concerning. In recent weeks, State Bar staff have taken some remediation steps, including offering travel reimbursements and stipends in some situations, improving communication coordination with Meazure Learning, and offering full refunds to those who chose to withdraw. Today the Board has decided to go further. Any applicant for the February 2025 California Bar Exam who chooses to withdraw or who fails the exam will receive a fee waiver for the July 2025 Bar Exam. We recognize that the goal of all applicants is to pass this exam, and compensation of any kind falls short for some. Please know that the Board of Trustees stands firm in our desire for process and institutional accountability, and we will continue to work toward resolving these issues in the short and long term.” 

Specifically, the Board approved $3.1 million in the budget to support fee waivers for the July 2025 bar exam to eligible February 2025 bar exam takers and authorized staff to develop the eligibility framework, with general parameters being those who withdrew from or fail the February 2025 bar exam, after good faith efforts. 

Background 

Here are remediation steps that have already been announced by the State Bar: 

• Offered reimbursement of nonreimburseable travel expenses for out-of-state, in-person test takers who moved to more local sites in the Central and Eastern time zones. 
• Extended similar reimbursement offers to those who have had their location changed after registering, or those who changed sites because of the late opening of new locations.    
• Offered stipends for applicants with testing accommodations (TA) who were moved at the last minute to the State Bar’s Los Angeles office or to other TA testing locations.   
• Offered full refunds to applicants affected by the Los Angeles wildfires if they chose to withdraw, and on February 13, extended the offer of full refunds to any applicant who decides to withdraw before the exam.  

State Bar Financial Future Much Improved 

At its meeting, the Board also approved the State Bar’s 2025 budget, reflecting a more stable financial outlook. The General Fund deficit is projected to drop to $4.9 million from $22.2 million in 2024, driven by a licensing fee increase sought by the State Bar and approved by the Legislature, as well as revenue from a debt settlement effort and internal cost efficiencies.  

The primary driver of the 2025 deficit is the voluntary reduction-in-force initiative, which offers payouts and pension credits to employees departing the State Bar by July 2025. This initiative is projected to result in personnel savings in 2026 and 2027, bolstering reserves and positioning the State Bar for near break-even operations in 2026 and 2027. 

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The State Bar of California's mission is to protect the public and includes the primary functions of licensing, regulation and discipline of attorneys; the advancement of the ethical and competent practice of law; and support of efforts for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system.