Tuition reimbursement for active-duty military at risk - The Tartan

Aren Framil/ News Editor

Members of Carnegie Mellon’s military community walk to the University Center after a 2025 Veterans Day ceremony.

On Feb. 13, CNN published a list of universities at risk for tuition reimbursement cuts for graduate-level military service members, which would begin in the 2026-27 school year. Among the list of more than 30 schools, Carnegie Mellon is a possible target of Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign against “biased” universities with “troublesome partnerships with foreign adversaries.”

Hegseth’s comments follow the Pentagon’s recent push to cut off connections between the military and Harvard University, which he attended, including ending military training, fellowships, and certificate programs. Hegseth’s concerns about higher education, which include “ideological bias” and partiality to “foreign adversaries,” include the Ivy League and other top universities across the country.

International students make up 22 percent of Carnegie Mellon’s undergraduates and 44 percent of the total student population. In the past year, the federal government has employed initiatives to prevent international students from enrolling at American universities, including imposing larger fees for students seeking visas and attempting to ban Harvard from admitting international students in the coming academic year.

Chuck Carney, senior director of reputation and issues management, wrote in an email to The Tartan that the university has not received formal notification of any review of benefits for graduate-level military service members from the federal government.

“We are aware of reports indicating that Carnegie Mellon is among several universities whose eligibility to support graduate training for military officers may be under review,” Carney wrote. “As always, [Carnegie Mellon] stands ready to engage constructively with the Department on ways to strengthen and advance military education.”

Carney cites Carnegie Mellon’s current military partnerships and training in generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools as a continuation of the university’s history of supporting the U.S. military.

“Current education initiatives span a Navy ROTC program preparing officers to support the Navy’s vital nuclear mission, as well as Ph.D., masters 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,” Carney wrote. “These programs also help anchor the presence of 150 AI-trained Army personnel in our region.”

Carnegie Mellon currently has around 225 students enrolled in military service, ROTC, or veterans programs, of which about 75 are active duty. A number of veterans are also employed by the university.

Michael Danko, veterans benefits and ROTC program manager, administers events and financial benefits related to Carnegie Mellon’s military community.

“We have a number of active duty officers [who] are here in various programs,” Danko said. “There’s a lot over at Heinz, and there’s a number over at CMIST. Plus, we have students that are spread out in mechanical engineering, computer engineering, things like that, and a few Ph.D. students.”

According to Danko, Carnegie Mellon’s Student Affairs department has worked to provide veterans and ROTC members with assistance when federal changes have impacted tuition benefits. However, active military service members receive tuition benefits directly from the Department of Defense, rather than through the university, like those with veterans or ROTC benefits.

“You, as a potential [active-duty military service] student, would go to your base, or you would be selected by your command to come to [Carnegie Mellon],” Danko said. “What they would do is, after you were admitted to [Carnegie Mellon], your initial paperwork goes from your branch’s service directly to financial aid or student accounts. I would be responsible for monitoring your progress, your grades, things like that, and notifying the appropriate department at the end of the semester.”

Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor said that cuts to the partnership between Carnegie Mellon and the military could harm recruitment at the university, and that the city will work with the university to maintain students’ benefits.

“Let’s not forget [Carnegie Mellon has] a lot of contracts that are connected to the federal government to support our military all across the world,” O’Connor said. “[Military service members] signed up to keep us all free. Now they are not going to get a benefit to have tuition supported at college? That’s crazy.”