WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of War Pete Hegseth cut the military’s academic ties with Harvard and called for a sweeping review of all graduate programs with universities, including those in the Ivy League, in the coming weeks.
Hegseth said the money the Department of War pays Harvard for professional military education, or PME, is “not worth it.” He said taxpayers deserve better.
“At the War Department, we will strive to maximize taxpayer value in building lethality to establish deterrence. It’s that simple,” Hegseth said in a video posted to social media. “That no longer includes spending millions of dollars on expensive universities that actively undercut our mission and undercut our country.”
The Center Square asked the Department of War on Monday how much it spends each year at Harvard and on PME in general. The department, which hasn’t passed an audit in more than eight years, declined to comment beyond the Secretary’s remarks.
Hegseth tore into Harvard, saying it and other Ivy League schools lack diversity of viewpoints and aren’t helping educate the next generation of leaders.
“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,” Hegseth 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.”
Hegseth attended Princeton and later Harvard’s Kennedy School, where he received a master’s degree in public policy.
The Center Square reached out to Harvard about the secretary’s decision, but the university did not immediately respond.
Hegseth said the War Department will discontinue graduate-level professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs at Harvard starting with the 2026-2027 school year. Hegseth said that military personnel already enrolled will be able to finish their courses.
Hegseth also ordered a wider review of all existing graduate programs at all universities, including other Ivy League schools. The other Ivy League schools are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Yale University.
“The goal is to determine whether or not they actually deliver cost-effective, strategic education for future senior leaders,” compared to public universities and other military graduate programs, Hegseth said.
The War Department also declined to say if the results of Hegseth’s review would be shared publicly.
Last month, President Donald Trump proposed a $1.5 trillion Department of War budget, sayings tariffs could fund the 60% increase, proposed $2,000 rebate checks and help address federal debt.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated this plan would raise defense spending by $5 trillion over ten years, or $5.8 trillion with interest, adding tariff revenue wouldn’t cover the spending. The analysis said military spending would far exceed expected tariff revenue.
In December, the Department of War failed its eighth consecutive audit. The Department of War previously told Congress it would be able to successfully account for all of its spending and assets by 2028.
