The Pentagon on Friday announced it will discontinue its military-related education and support programs with Harvard University, a change that will take effect for the 2026-27 academic year and further tightens an already contentious relationship between the Trump administration and the Ivy League school.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement that Harvard “no longer meets the needs of the War Department or the military services,” and he tied the decision to what he said was a failure by the university to serve military needs. In his comments, Hegseth said the department has sent officers to Harvard “hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class,” but that “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.”
The Pentagon said it will end all military training, fellowships and certificate programs with Harvard. It also said those already enrolled will be allowed to complete the courses they are taking. Hegseth said similar programs at other Ivy League universities will be evaluated in the coming weeks.
In a separate post on X, Hegseth wrote, “Harvard is woke; The War Department is not.” The announcement adds to a sequence of steps the administration has taken against Harvard as it has demanded reforms at the university.
Harvard has been a central target of Trump in the administration’s campaign to compel changes at prestigious universities. According to the Pentagon’s broader context, the White House has cut billions of dollars from Harvard’s federal research funding and attempted to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students after the campus rebuffed a series of government demands last April.
The White House has said it is punishing Harvard for tolerating anti-Jewish bias on campus, while Harvard’s leaders have argued they face illegal retaliation for failing to adopt the administration’s ideological views. Harvard sued the administration in two separate lawsuits, and a federal judge issued orders siding with Harvard in both cases. The administration said it is appealing the decisions.
Tensions eased over the summer after Trump teased a deal that he said was “just days away,” but it did not materialize. The White House renewed its pressure on Monday, with Trump demanding $1 billion from Harvard as part of any deal to restore federal funding—an amount described as twice what he had demanded before.
The Pentagon’s decision also drew on Hegseth’s personal history with Harvard. Hegseth earned a master’s degree from Harvard and in 2022, after returning the diploma in a Fox News segment, wrote “Return to Sender” on it with a marker. The Pentagon social media account run by Hegseth’s office later resurfaced that clip. The Pentagon described Harvard as one of the civilian institutions where the military can offer graduate-level education to officers, alongside military war colleges, and said the discontinuation is set to begin with the 2026-27 academic year.