Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., added an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2027 that would require military academies to accept the Classic Learning Test for admissions. The CLT exam is a standardized assessment that tests students in reading, writing, and mathematics, with a focus on classical and historical texts.
The amendment, passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, would allow applicants to submit Classic Learning Test (CLT) test scores instead of those from the traditional SAT or ACT.
“I was proud to secure this amendment to help our military academies attract the best and brightest young Americans,” Banks said in a press release. “We should be looking for future military leaders in as many places as possible and accepting the CLT exam is an important step in that direction.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth previously promised that he would work to authorize the use of the CLT in service academies, calling the exam the “gold standard.” Although Hegseth already directed the academies to accept the CLT, Banks’ amendment would make it more difficult for future administrations to undo the decision.
Other political leaders have also embraced the CLT in recent years. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill in 2023 that funded the use of the exam in the state’s high schools. The Florida Board of Governors voted that same year to accept the CLT for admission to Florida’s 12 public colleges and universities.
CLT founder and CEO Jeremy Tate launched the exam in 2015 to compete with the SAT and ACT and “challenge the monopoly.”
Through the SAT, PSAT, and AP program, [the College Board] has wielded extraordinary influence over what students study, what schools prioritize, and what colleges reward. The result has been an education system increasingly detached from the Western tradition, hostile to the moral and religious foundations of our civilization, and obsessed with credentials rather than wisdom.
Political leaders’ and colleges’ embrace of the CLT comes as classical education gains popularity in America. This method of education, rooted in history, religion, and classical literature, is being taught at nearly 900 schools, according to a Heritage Foundation database. Many homeschool organizations, such as Classical Conversations, also utilize classical curricula.
The CLT exam is modeled on this style of education. Administered online with virtual proctoring, a typical CLT exam asks students to respond to texts from authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Dostoyevsky, and C.S. Lewis.
“[A] classical educator aims to inspire students to respect and love their cultural inheritance, and to imitate the virtues they see depicted in that inheritance,” longtime classical teacher and administrator Joshua Gibbs said.
Skye Graham is an intern at The Federalist. She is a senior History major at Hillsdale College and serves as the assistant features editor for the Hillsdale Collegian.
