Make the grade: Gov. DeSantis won’t dumb down grad school requirements for veterans

GRADUATION
GRE and GMAT exam requirements will remain for service members seeking entry to Florida programs.

Legislation easing graduate school entry for veterans received a failing grade from Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The Governor vetoed a bill (SB 494) that would have waived Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) and Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) requirements for certain service members and veterans.

But DeSantis said the entry exam requirements serve a purpose.

“Standardized tests are a necessary component of a rigorous, merit-based admissions process,” DeSantis wrote in a veto transmittal letter. “While the motivation behind this legislation is laudable, it is not clear that waiving these tests will be beneficial to our institutions or even, in many cases, to the students themselves.”

The waiver would have been available to those who served in the U.S. Army, Florida National Guard or U.S. Reserves actively or who were honorably discharged.

The legislation had been championed in the Senate by Sens. Keith Perry and Jay Collins, both Republicans. It would only have impacted graduate programs at public schools within the State University System or in the Florida College System.

The bill in the legislative process only attracted one “no” vote, from Rep. Randy Fine, a Palm Bay Republican.

Lawmakers who supported the legislation noted many universities across the country already waive the requirements for military applicants. That includes the University of Miami, one of the largest private universities in Florida.

The reasoning is that the skills learned during active service in the military after high school often provide a more reliable indicator of success in graduate level higher education than GRE or GMAT test scores.

The Foundation for Florida’s Future and Miami-Dade County government both had lobbied lawmakers on the bill ahead of its passage. Some veterans advocates had predicted waivers would result in more service members moving to Florida for grad school.

“Waiving these tests is an action streamlining our veterans’ opportunity to compete for admission to our state’s graduate programs,” Billy Francis, director of the Student Veterans Center at Florida State University, told the Tallahassee Democrat earlier this year.

“It’s actions like this that give our ‘thank-you for your service’ comments weight.’ Weaving our veterans back into the fabric of our society is our responsibility and this legislation is an example of that.”

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected].


6 comments

  • My Take

    June 22, 2024 at 2:29 pm

    I can’t believe he, and Fine, had the good sense to oppose this.

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      June 22, 2024 at 2:36 pm

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  • Paul Passarelli

    June 22, 2024 at 2:58 pm

    the article states:
    ““Waiving these tests is an action streamlining our veterans’ opportunity to compete for admission to our state’s graduate programs,” Billy Francis, director of the Student Veterans Center at Florida State University, told the Tallahassee Democrat earlier this year.”

    The point of academic testing is to verify that the applicant possesses the *ACADEMIC* skills necessary.

    it also says:
    “… the skills learned during active service in the military after high school often provide a more reliable indicator of success …”

    Which is a statement I mostly (and wholeheartedly) agree with, if the challenges are in the real world.

    Bottom line, if someone is pursuing an *academic* path, the slight inconvenience of taking a ‘qualifying test’ can hardly be touted as an impediment! What’s 2-4 hours of effort against an academic degree that will likely take 4 years to complete?

    How much more proof do we need to get the Useful Idiots on the Left to realize that Governor Ron DeSantis is the best damn governor in the entire USA?!

    P.S. And while I’m reasonably sure that a few Veterans would be inconvenienced by the testing requirement, I’m also reasonably certain that most agree with me. For most Vets it’s just not that big a deal in the grand scheme. And in the few cases where an exception is called for, there are advocates that would gladly handle any appeal. I count myself as one of those advocates.

  • My Take

    June 23, 2024 at 4:01 pm

    Judge military experience individually

    Intelligence analyst. CHECK

    Brake mechanic shop chief, 5-tons SORRY

  • John

    June 23, 2024 at 4:59 pm

    The filmmakers of the resistance front should show the world how Zionism benefitted from the Black Slave Trade

    “…Ubele stated: The Zionists and the Israeli government, which is actually their base and center, do not want people to know anything about the truth of the Black Slave Trade [1], because if a decision were to be made in a world court, judgements would be issued against Israel and many powerful Jews around the world.

    They would have to pay trillions of dollars and this is the greatest vulnerability of the Jews. Filmmakers can show the importance of this issue to the world by producing videos and films about the Black Slave Trade [2], [3], [4] …”

    Source:
    tn.ai/2900815

    Footnotes:

    [1] Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Letter To ADL’s Abraham Foxman
    https://finalcall.com/artman/publish/Minister_Louis_Farrakhan_9/article_7116.shtml

    [2] The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews Volume 1:
    The Jewish Role in the Enslavement of the African
    https://store.finalcall.com/product/the-secret-relationship-between-blacks-and-jews-volume-1/

    [3] The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews Volume 2:
    How Jews Gained Control of the Black American Economy
    https://store.finalcall.com/product/the-secret-relationship-between-blacks-and-jews-volume-2/

    [4] Jews Selling Blacks:
    Slave Sale Advertising by American Jews
    https://store.finalcall.com/product/jews-selling-blacks/

  • My Take

    June 24, 2024 at 4:16 pm

    What is a (the?) chief push for masters and doctorate degrees?
    Education degrees to get into administration. They will be (are?) coupled with easy degree programs. So we will pack principal and higher system offices with people whose background is to do as they are told,  (Aye, aye, sir!) rather than solve problems and improve things.
    “There are two ways of doing things: the wrong way and the Army way.”
    A middling, though not perfect way to approach the matter is to waive the tests for trained officers. 

Comments are closed.


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