The move is setting off alarm bells in the military and academic communities, which worry about cutting off a key pipeline to the officer corps.
"This is stunningly short-sighted of Hegseth, on multiple levels," said Georgetown law professor and former Pentagon adviser Rosa Brooks. "Cutting off their access to the best universities in the country is just plain dumb, and suggests Hegseth thinks officers can't be trusted to bring any critical thinking to their classes and academic work, distinguishing between opinion and fact."
Hegseth's effort was first alluded to in a video message last week that announced the Pentagon's decision to cut all academic ties with Harvard University starting in the 2026/2027 school year, claiming it is "one of the red-hot centers of hate-America activism."
The former Fox News host had a long list of criticisms for America's oldest university. He asserted without evidence that "too many faculty members openly loathe our military," cast the armed forces in a negative light and "squelch anyone who challenges their leftist political leanings."
"For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class," he said. "Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard, heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks."
In the video, Hegseth threatened to explore the same option at other Ivy League schools, following up with a memo signed last week that ordered the military branches to evaluate all existing graduate programs for active-duty members at the top-tier institutions and any other civilian universities "that similarly diminish critical thinking and have significant adversary involvement," CNN first reported.
That effort is now underway, with the military branches beginning to compile lists of colleges and universities where service members could no longer receive tuition assistance from the Pentagon if they attend.
A preliminary list compiled by the Army, for example, includes 34 schools where troops might enroll in law school being marked at "moderate to high risk" of being banned, CNN reported.
Included in the list are schools attended by top Trump administration officials: President Trump routinely touts his degree from the University of Pennsylvania; Vice President Vance obtained his law degree from Yale University; Hegseth attended Princeton University and Harvard; Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg attended Princeton University; Army Secretary Dan Driscoll attended Yale Law School; and Navy Secretary John Phelan holds a master's degree in business administration from Harvard.
Since taking the helm of the Pentagon last year, Hegseth has focused on reshaping the military's culture, enacting policies that have ranged from banning transgender troops and reviewing whether women should serve in combat roles to reevaluating the Defense Department's support for Scouting America unless it institutes "core value reforms."
His moves in higher education take place amid broader tensions between the Trump administration and Harvard and other Ivy League schools he has deemed too "woke," including ongoing disputes over federal funding; allegations of antisemitism on campus; and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Read the full report at thehill.com.
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