Pentagon's Break With Ivy League Leaves Colleges Bracing For Further Changes To Military Programs

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s run to extremity “wokeness” successful nan subject is reshaping its narration pinch U.S. higher education, breaking disconnected longstanding ties pinch prestigious universities that person trained generals and admirals while building caller bonds pinch Christian schools and nationalist universities.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forged up past week pinch his realignment, expelling much than a twelve elite colleges from a subject fellowship that serves arsenic a pipeline to nan precocious ranks of leadership. It’s a mini but symbolic fracture that has near assemblage leaders bracing for further cuts that could propulsion work members from their classrooms.

Hegseth made sweeping statements astir canceling each subject attendance astatine schools he denounces arsenic anti-American, yet his cuts person been much targeted. So acold he has homed successful connected postgraduate degrees and certificates while preserving a overmuch broader programme that helps screen tuition for astir 200,000 active-duty aliases reserve work members.

That program, known arsenic Tuition Assistance, allows work members to get financial thief pursuing studies astatine astir immoderate U.S. college. The backing flows to hundreds of campuses, including nan highly selective ones Hegseth says person “gorged themselves” connected payer money. Yet an Associated Press study finds that schools beyond nan Ivy League are acold much apt to use from nan Pentagon aid, including large online universities and immoderate for-profit colleges that person been dogged by fraud accusations.

About 350 members of nan subject utilized Tuition Assistance to be Harvard, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University and nan different schools targeted by Hegseth’s cuts, according to nan AP study of 2024 data. By contrast, much than 50,000 studied astatine nan American Public University System, a for-profit acquisition institution that offers online degrees and has a graduation complaint of conscionable 22%.

More than a 3rd of students utilizing nan use attended for-profit colleges, surpassing nan number who attended immoderate type of private, nonprofit college. Public universities return successful nan astir subject students nether nan program, pinch astir 4 successful 10 choosing those campuses. The use pays retired a maximum of $4,500 a year.

Hegseth takes purpose astatine a prestigious subject fellowship

That nan Pentagon is taking immoderate stance connected wherever work members should enroll is simply a extremist displacement from nan past and an “incredible overreach,” said Lindsey Tepe, who advises connected subject learning astatine nan American Council connected Education, a group that represents assemblage presidents.

“This is intelligibly nan commencement of a broader effort to reshape subject education, and I do deliberation that this is simply a bad precedent to set,” Tepe said.

The shake-up has aroused interest astir further cuts, pinch immoderate wondering whether it poses a consequence to Tuition Assistance, nan Reserve Officers’ Training Corps aliases different subject programs that salary for schooling successful fields for illustration law, medicine and engineering.

Hegseth made nary mention of those programs successful a memo detailing his cuts past week. Instead, he targeted nan Senior Service College Fellowship, a prestigious programme that lets subject members prosecute precocious studies astatine universities, deliberation tanks and national agencies. It’s often granted to mid-career unit connected their measurement to activity aliases highly specialized roles successful nan military.

The programme is small, pinch less than 80 students crossed nan 15 universities being carved retired this fall, according to nan Pentagon memo. Along pinch respective Ivy League campuses, nan Pentagon said it will prohibition schools including Georgetown University, Carnegie Mellon University and nan Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The ranks of graduates from those campuses includes a big of existent and retired commanders. James McConville, a retired Army wide who led nan service from 2019 to 2023, did a fellowship astatine Harvard, according to his subject biography. Lt. Gen. William Graham Jr., existent main of nan U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, did 1 astatine MIT.

Military will suffer retired connected Ivy League expertise, immoderate say

By carving retired those campuses, immoderate judge nan Trump management is sacrificing method expertise successful nan sanction of ideology. Those campuses thin to employment apical experts successful areas for illustration artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum computing, said William Hubbard, a vice president astatine Veterans Education Success, a bipartisan nonprofit.

“I’m not judge our enemies would beryllium excessively upset astir this,” said Hubbard, a Marine Corps veteran. “If I were waking up successful Beijing and heard this news, I would beryllium pleased.”

Harvard, a favourite target of President Trump, is being deed pinch deeper sanctions. The Pentagon said it’s barring each graduate-level master subject acquisition astatine Harvard, on pinch fellowships and certificates.

In response, Harvard’s schoolhouse of authorities this week said it’s allowing active-duty work members to defer their admittance for up to 4 years. It besides arranged to get them “expedited consideration” astatine different colleges, including nan University of Chicago and Tufts University.

Hegseth himself earned a master’s grade from Harvard but symbolically returned his certificate successful a 2022 Fox News segment.

Hegseth wants to reroute leaders to Liberty, Hillsdale and others

In his memo past week, Hegseth blasted elite colleges that he says person go “factories of anti-American resentment” and undermine subject values. He suggested 15 colleges to switch those being trim from nan fellowship. They were chosen for promoting intelligence state and having “minimal nationalist expressions successful guidance of nan Department,” nan memo said.

At nan apical of nan database is Liberty University, a Christian schoolhouse that enrolls 16,000 students astatine its Virginia field and different 120,000 successful online programs. It already has a beardown subject presence, enrolling much than 7,000 students utilizing Tuition Assistance, according to nan AP analysis. A bid of scandals person shaken nan field successful caller years, starring to nan 2020 departure of its longtime president, Jerry Falwell Jr.

A connection from Liberty said it has not yet coordinated pinch nan Pentagon regarding a imaginable partnership, but it’s grateful for Hegseth’s leadership. “We emotion this state and afloat support nan men and women successful azygous who give their lives successful work to our nation,” nan connection said.

Also connected nan database is Hillsdale College, a blimpish Christian schoolhouse that’s separately partnering pinch nan White House connected a run celebrating nan nation’s 250th anniversary. In a statement, Hillsdale President Larry Arnn said excessively galore different colleges person abandoned nan nation’s founding principles.

“If officers want superior acquisition successful nan principles they committedness to defend, Hillsdale is precisely wherever they should be,” Arnn said.

The database of replacements includes respective flagship authorities universities, including top-tier investigation institutions for illustration nan University of Michigan, which past twelvemonth rolled backmost diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and nan University of North Carolina. Hegseth said routing nan fellowship elsewhere will guarantee “a much rigorous and applicable acquisition to amended hole them for nan complexities of modern warfare.”

Binkley and Forster constitute for nan Associated Press. Forster reported from New York.