Restoring Merit in the Military Service Academies Act

House Votes

This bill changes how the United States Military, Naval, and Air Force Academies choose students. Offers must be made strictly in rank order using one uniform “candidate composite score.” The score must lean heavily on academics (at least 60%) and standardized test scores (at least 45%), with any subjective parts capped at 10%. Only the composite score decides who gets in. It also bans considering an applicant’s race, sex, color, ethnicity, national origin, or religion in admissions decisions.

The bill also standardizes special appointments and adds transparency. Each academy must appoint 300 “qualified alternates” each year, chosen strictly by score rank from nominated candidates. The President may still appoint up to 100 candidates per academy, but those picks must also follow the same merit ranking. Every year by October 1, the Departments must report to Congress on minimum score cutoffs, the number and reasons for score waivers, and how students admitted with waivers are doing; another annual report lists the ten lowest-scoring appointees, the ten highest-scoring unselected candidates, and the total number of qualified but not selected candidates from the prior cycle.

• Who is affected: Applicants to the Military, Naval, and Air Force Academies, and the academies themselves.
• What changes: Admissions are based only on composite score rank; academics and test scores carry most of the weight; subjective factors are limited; use of race, sex, color, ethnicity, national origin, or religion is prohibited; each academy appoints 300 alternates; up to 100 Presidential picks must follow merit; annual reports to Congress add admissions transparency.
• When: Annual reports are due by October 1 each year, covering the prior admissions cycle.