The Supreme Court ruled that college admissions and military recruitment must be based on merit.

What we found

Contradicts. The Supreme Court's SFFA opinion expressly declined to address race-based admissions at military academies, stating it 'does not address the issue, in light of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present.'[3][4]

Contradicts. The 2024 Supreme Court order let West Point keep using race as an admissions factor, while the lawsuit continued, so the Court did not require merit-based military admissions.[1][2][5]

Supports. The Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that colleges and universities can no longer take race into consideration as a specific basis in admissions, overturning long-standing precedent.[6]

Context. In August 2025 SFFA settled its suits against West Point and the Air Force Academy, and the Department of Defense agreed to stop considering race in admissions; this was a settlement, not a Supreme Court ruling.[7]

Context. The 2023 ruling barred race as a factor in college admissions but did not itself mandate 'merit' as the standard, so 'must be based on merit' overstates what the Court held.[4][6]

Sources

7 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 2 primary, 2 not rated, 1 tier 2

1. 1Supreme Court allows West Point to continue using race as a factor in admissions, for nowapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
2. 2US Supreme Court won't halt West Point from considering race in admissionsreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
3. 3Untitledcongress.gov · primary source · cited for: contradicts
4. 420-1199 Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and ...supremecourt.gov · primary source · cited for: contradicts, context
5. 5Supreme Court Lets West Point Keep Using Race in Admissionsnews.bloomberglaw.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
6. 6June 29, 2023 Supreme Court affirmative action decision | CNN Politicscnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
7. 7Anti–Affirmative Action Group Settles With Military Academiesinsidehighered.com · not rated · cited for: context

Where this claim was made

Said in 1 published post

• Badlands Media · Oct 15, 2026“we won in the Supreme Court the right for merit. This is such a big decision... everything now, everything from getting into college to getting into the military to being a scientist, everything now is based on merit”Post →