4 February 26 - March 4, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | ▼ CORAL GABLES GO WOKE, GO BROKE? THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI IS ONE OF DOZENS OF SCHOOLS THE PENTAGON MAY BAN FROM MILITARY TUITION AID. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN M ilitary service members who are seeking tuition assistance to further their education at the University of Miami (UM) may need to reconsider. According to leaked emails from the United States Department of War, formerly the Department of Defense (DoD), UM is among more than 30 schools where tuition aid may be banned for its graduate programs. This would impact various positions, includ- ing Judge Advocate General (JAG) officers (commissioned military officers who are also qualified attorneys) applying to top law schools. UM and the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne are the only two Florida schools that were “determined to be moderate to high risk schools and therefore ineligible for Army or Department of Defense funding.” Other universities on the list in- clude Yale University, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford Univer- sity, Princeton University, and New York Uni- versity. This memo was apparently issued to fur- ther U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign against universities he says are too woke, biased against the military, and sponsor “troublesome partnerships with foreign ad- versaries.” On February 6, Hegseth, who now goes by the Secretary of War, announced that the Department of Defense is “ending all pro- fessional military education, fellowships, and certificate programs” at Harvard beginning with the 2026-2027 school year. As part of his announcement, he teased that the depart- ment was also exploring ending relationships with other universities. “With some exceptions, the Ivy League as a whole has pervasive institutional bias and a lack of viewpoint diversity, including the cod- dling of toxic ideologies that undercuts our mission right here in this building,” Hegseth, a Princeton graduate himself who later re- ceived a master’s degree from Harvard in 2013, said in a video on X, the platform for- merly known as Twitter. “That is why in two weeks’ time, components of all of our depart- ments — Army, Navy, and Air Force — will evaluate all existing graduate programs for active-duty service members at all Ivy League universities and other civilian uni- versities. The goal is to determine whether or not they actually de- liver cost-effective strategic educa- tion for future se- nior leaders when compared to, say, public universities and our military graduate pro- grams.” A CNN report states that Hegseth’s new memo has raised concerns among service members applying to top law, medical, and nuclear engineering programs. The UM website says the university par- ticipates in the DoD’s tuition assistance pro- gram, which “provides financial assistance to service members for voluntary off-duty edu- cation programs in support of professional and personal self-development goals.” A UM spokesperson did not respond to New Times’ emailed requests for comment. Notably, President Donald Trump’s grand- daughter, Kai Trump, is joining the UM golf team next year. [email protected] | RIPTIDE | Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has eyes set on universities that he says are biased against the military. Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr THIS MEMO WAS APPARENTLY ISSUED TO FURTHER HEGSETH’S CAMPAIGN AGAINST UNIVERSITIES HE SAYS ARE TOO WOKE.
