PITTSBURGH — The Pentagon will cancel senior service college fellowships at Carnegie Mellon University and 21 other institutions, citing concerns with perceived bias at these schools.

Five military students will be impacted at CMU, according to a memo sent by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth late last week.

Other institutions cut off include Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia University. The policy takes effect fall 2026; students currently enrolled at impacted institutions for the 2025-26 academic year will be able to complete their courses of study.

CMU officials project the elimination to have a limited impact, spokesman Chuck Carney said in an email.

“The elimination of these fellowships does not affect ROTC, graduate masters or Ph.D. programs, certificate or training programs, students attending on veterans’ benefit programs, cooperative agreements, or any research programs or activities,” Carney wrote.

He added: “CMU has a long history of connection to the military and is always ready to engage constructively with the federal government on ways to strengthen and advance military education.”

This cancellation comes weeks after CNN reported that CMU was among 35 schools where active military members could be barred from tuition assistance in graduate programs.

In his most recent memo, Hegseth said institutions partnered with the military must equip military leaders to handle “core national security strategy issues” and “think critically, free of bias and influence.”

The Pentagon listed 21 potential new partner institutions, which included conservative-leaning institutions such as Hillsdale College and Liberty University, as well as big state schools such as Arizona State University and the University of North Carolina.

Partner institutions must promote intellectual freedom, have minimal relationships with “adversaries” and express minimal public opposition to the Department of Defense, per the Pentagon. They also need to offer graduate-level programs in national security, international affairs and/or public policy.

“We must develop strategic thinkers through education grounded in the founding principles and documents of the republic, embracing peace through strength and American ideals, and focused on our national strategies and grounded in realism,” Hegseth wrote. “We will no longer invest in institutions that fail to sharpen our leaders' warfighting capabilities or that undermine the very values they are sworn to defend.”

Since President Donald Trump began his second term last year, CMU and other institutions have also faced pressure in relation to international student enrollments, foreign gifts and contracts, federal research dollars, and diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

At CMU, support for military education dates back to World War I, Carney said.

“Current education initiatives span a Navy ROTC program preparing officers to support the Navy’s vital nuclear mission, as well as Ph.D., master’s and executive education courses that engage more than 1,300 senior officers and rapid occupational training in AI and robotics for soldiers and sailors, ensuring our military are the best in the world in understanding and deploying cutting-edge technology,” he said. “These programs also help anchor the presence of 150 AI-trained Army personnel in our region.”

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