Collegiate Times

On May 2, President Charles Steger and Maj. Gen. Carl Jensen signed a memorandum of understanding, allowing honorably discharged Marines to apply to Virginia Tech.

The agreement could bring up to five marines each year to the university.  However, this does not mean that other applicants will be pushed aside to make room for the incoming Marines.

“It must be noted that over the last 3-5 years, the admissions rate has grown from 2,800 to 3,000,” said Mark Owczarski, director of news and information. “Nobody is being bumped or pushed aside.”

The incoming Marines can be seen as military transfer students. They are held to the same standards that the university requires transfers to have.

In order to be eligible for admissions, the applying Marines must be Virginia residents, have graduated high school, have obtained a score of 70 or higher on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, and have a score of 115 or higher on the General Classification Test.  It is also recommended that they have an overall score of 1100 on the SAT or 25 on the ACT and have a cumulative 3.0 GPA in all college level courses they might have taken.

“The standards (for admission) are still as high as they are for all students,” said Owczarski. “This just helps the Marines to communicate to constituents that this is an option once they are discharged.”

James Madison and Longwood University also signed the same agreement with the only difference being the standards changing to fit those of their respective institution.

Like all incoming applicants, the final decision of the selected Marines admittance rests with the university they are applying to.

A version of this article appeared in the May 26 issue of the Collegiate Times.