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Pentagon to End Harvard Graduate Military Ties, Sets Wider Review

Currently enrolled service members can finish their courses as the decision takes effect in the 2026–27 school year.

Overview

  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Department of Defense will discontinue graduate training, fellowships, and certificate programs for active-duty personnel at Harvard beginning in 2026–27.
  • Hegseth announced a two-week review of programs for service members at all Ivy League institutions and other civilian universities to assess their value compared with public and military graduate schools.
  • He justified the cutoff by claiming Harvard returns officers with "heads full of globalist and radical ideologies" that do not strengthen the force.
  • Harvard said it is still determining the implications across multiple divisions, including the law school, Ph.D. programs, the Kennedy School, and continuing education.
  • Critics, including scholar Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic, dispute the ideological rationale and cite national-security-focused coursework such as a Nuclear Deterrence Graduate Certificate, and coverage links the timing to President Trump’s renewed $1 billion demand from Harvard.