Defense Secretary Orders Military Service Academies to Adopt Merit-Based Admissions Policies

Pete Hegseth has given the secretaries of the military departments 30 days to certify that they will use merit-based admissions in 2026 and onward.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth meets with U.S. Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Yvette Davids during a visit to the Academy in Annapolis, Md., on April 1, 2025. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Robert J. Baldock

The U.S. military service academies will soon have to certify that they make no consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex in their admissions processes and instead decide appointments by merit alone.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, on May 9, issued a memorandum ordering the secretaries of the military departments to certify within 30 days that they will use a merit-based admission process for the 2026 admissions cycle and all subsequent cycles. This new memo is part of a broader effort Hegseth has led, to implement merit-based and color-blind policies across the armed forces.

This policy is set to impact the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York; the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland; and the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In the landmark 2023 case of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action policies that factor race into college admissions processes. While the court’s majority reversed long-standing race-based admissions policies, it made a deliberate exception for the military service academies. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing the majority opinion, specifically said there may be “potentially distinct interests” in allowing the service academies to continue factoring race into their admissions.

Advocacy groups like Students for Fair Admissions have continued to raise legal challenges to the continued use of race in service academy admissions. Thus far, these litigants have been unable to force the service academies to discontinue race-based admissions policies through legal action. Last February, the Supreme Court declined an injunction request challenging West Point’s continued use of race-based factors in its admissions process.

Hegseth’s order provides a new way to eliminate affirmative action policies outside of the court system.

In his memo, Hegseth wrote that a merit-based admissions process in these military service academies “ensures only the most qualified candidates are admitted, trained, and ultimately commissioned to lead the finest fighting force in history.”

“Selecting anyone but the best erodes lethality, our warfighting readiness, and undercuts the culture of excellence in our Armed Forces,” Hegseth added.

The defense secretary said the service academies may adopt a merit system that considers athletic talent, prior military service, and student performance at a service academy preparatory school.

In March, the Naval Academy announced it would no longer consider race as a factor in its admissions process.

The Military Academy and the Air Force Academy followed suit in April, announcing they would also stop considering race as a factor in admissions decisions. All three service academies made these announcements while requesting reprieve from ongoing challenges brought by Students for Fair Admissions.