Service Academy Admissions Overhaul: Mandating 60% Academic Score and Banning Race/Sex Consideration

This legislation, the Restoring Merit in the Military Service Academies Act, completely restructures how cadets and midshipmen are selected for West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy. The core change is the mandatory use of a uniform “candidate composite score” for admissions, which dictates who gets in and who doesn’t. This score is heavily weighted toward academic performance, and the bill explicitly bans the consideration of an applicant’s race, sex, color, ethnicity, national origin, or religion during the selection process (SEC. 2).

The New Math of Military Merit

If you’re a high school student eyeing a military career, the rules just got a lot more specific. Under this bill, your application score will be calculated with strict minimum weightings: the academic part must account for at least 60% of your total composite score, and standardized test scores (like the SAT or ACT) must make up at least 45% of that academic portion. Do the math, and standardized tests are now locked in as a major deciding factor in admissions. Any subjective adjustments—like interviews or recommendations—are capped at a maximum of 10% of the final score. This is a huge shift toward quantitative metrics, meaning if you’re a strong test-taker, this bill works in your favor. If you’re a great leader or athlete but struggle with standardized tests, the path just got tougher (SEC. 2).

The Diversity Question: What Can’t Be Considered

Perhaps the most significant provision is the explicit prohibition on considering an applicant’s race, sex, color, ethnicity, national origin, or religion when making admission decisions. The intent is clear: create a purely merit-based system focused solely on the composite score rank. For those who believe the academies should reflect the diversity of the nation they serve, this ban removes any existing mechanisms used to ensure a broad representation of the U.S. population. It means the academies can no longer use these characteristics, even as one factor among many, potentially leading to less diverse incoming classes over time (SEC. 2).

More Transparency, More Alternates

To boost transparency, the bill requires the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to report detailed data to Congress every year. This includes the minimum composite score and College Entrance Examination Rank (CEER) score used for admission, plus specific tracking of any waivers granted to cadets who fell below those minimums. For the average taxpayer, this means Congress will have a clearer, annual snapshot of who is getting in and why (SEC. 2). On the practical side, the bill also creates a new mechanism to appoint 300 qualified alternates annually at each academy, chosen purely by their composite score rank. This ensures that if a top-ranked nominee drops out, the slot is immediately filled by the next person on the merit list, streamlining the process and keeping class sizes full with high-scoring candidates (SEC. 2).