DoD Ends Tuition Aid for Troops at Elite Universities

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that the Department of Defense will terminate tuition assistance and other educational support for active-duty service members attending several elite universities, effective for the 2026-2027 academic year. The policy targets institutions including Princeton University, Columbia University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, Yale University, and others, building on a similar decision earlier this month to sever ties with Harvard University.

In a video statement posted to social media, Hegseth described the move as a response to what he views as a departure from the core mission of professional military education. He argued that these universities have shifted focus from strategic military training to ideologies that undermine service members' values. "For decades, the Ivy League and similar institutions have received American taxpayer dollars, only to foster environments of anti-American resentment and military disdain," Hegseth said. He added that such programs have replaced "the study of victory and pragmatic realism with the promotion of wokeness and weakness."

The directive halts all graduate-level...