Pete Hegseth Cuts Elite Colleges From Military Fellowship Program Over DEI Policies
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has removed more than a dozen elite colleges from a military fellowship program. The move, announced on 15 February 2026, targets institutions with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. College leaders now fear deeper cuts to military attendance could follow.
Hegseth's decision initially strips 75 educational institutions of their participation in the fellowship scheme. This program has long served as a key route for service members aiming for leadership positions. Around 150 more schools may face similar action in the near future.
The cuts have so far focused on graduate degrees and specialist certificates. A separate, broader tuition program supporting roughly 200,000 active-duty and reserve personnel remains mostly untouched. While Hegseth has previously suggested halting military attendance at schools he labels anti-American, his current measures appear more selective.
The removal of these colleges marks a small but notable shift in military-education ties. Leaders at affected institutions now expect further reductions in military-affiliated enrollment. The impact on future officer recruitment and training pathways remains to be seen.
Read also:
- American teenagers taking up farming roles previously filled by immigrants, a concept revisited from 1965's labor market shift.
- Weekly affairs in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag)
- Landslide claims seven lives, injures six individuals while they work to restore a water channel in the northern region of Pakistan
- Escalating conflict in Sudan has prompted the United Nations to announce a critical gender crisis, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the ongoing violence on women and girls.
