Department of War places Hillsdale on list of potential partners

The Department of War listed Hillsdale College as a potential partner for active-duty military graduate fellowships after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the cancellation of existing programs at elite educational and nonprofit institutions, including Harvard University, MIT, and Yale University. 

“We cannot and will not continue to send our most capable officers, senior officers, into graduate programs that undermine the very values they had sworn to uphold,” Hegseth said Feb. 27 in a video posted on X. 

Ninety-three Senior Service College fellowships at 22 institutions will be terminated at the end of the academic year, according to a memorandum for senior Pentagon leadership dated Feb. 27. Hillsdale is listed among 21 potential new partner institutions. Through SSC fellowships, the government provides funding for outstanding active-duty senior officers and select civilian government employees to pursue graduate studies and research beneficial to the military, according to the Army War College website. 

“The Department of War is committed to maximizing taxpayer dollars on warrior education, and to equipping our military leaders to succeed on and off the battlefield,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a press release shared with The Collegian. “These actions are a continuation of the ‘Rapid Force-Wide Review of Military Standards,’ and reinforce the Department’s commitment to high standards, rigor, and educational excellence.”

It remains unclear if Hillsdale College could accept Senior Service Fellowships and remain free from the federal regulations that accompany federal spending. 

“If senior officers want serious education in the principles they swear to defend, Hillsdale is exactly where they should be,” Hillsdale College Associate Vice President of Media Relations Emily Davis said in a statement shared with The Collegian. “The college does not accept government funding, so any such arrangement would have to respect that policy. If there is interest in officers studying here, we will find a way to help without troubling the taxpayer.”

Hillsdale does not accept any federal or state funding for student grants, loans, or scholarships. Instead of accepting the GI Bill for veterans, the college offers privately funded Hillsdale Freedom Scholarships to veterans and dependents of any branch of the United States military, according to the college website.

A Department of War spokesperson told The Collegian the department has nothing more to share at this time regarding the college’s eligibility. 

Other schools listed as potential partner institutions for fellowships include Baylor University, Liberty University, and the University of Michigan. 

Criteria listed on the memo for new partner institutions include: “intellectual freedom, minimal relationships with adversaries, minimal public expressions in opposition of the Department, and Graduate-level National Security, International Affairs, and/or Public Policy Programs.”

These cancellations come after Hegseth announced in a memo dated Feb. 6 that the Pentagon would sever ties with Harvard University, citing faculty’s negative bias toward military actions and the university’s partnerships with foreign adversaries. In the memo, Hegseth ordered a review of existing graduate programs for active-duty service members at Ivy League and other elite universities to evaluate whether the programs diminish critical thinking, have significant adversary involvement, and deliver cost effective, strategic education for senior military leaders. 

“This decisive change will ensure our leaders receive a more rigorous and relevant education to better prepare them for the complexities of modern warfare and return our Force to the original purpose of SSCs: the preparation of senior officers to be critical thinkers that can plan and integrate multi-domain, Joint operations at echelon and serve (and think) at the strategic level,” the Feb. 27 memo said. 

SSC fellows currently enrolled will be allowed to finish their courses of study in their current placements, according to the memo.