Trump HR Chief Ends Tuition-Break Program for Federal Workers

The US Office of Personnel Management is ending a program that gives federal workers discounted college tuition.

OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a memoMonday that the office would cancel the Federal Academic Alliance at the end of the current academic term. The voluntary partnership between universities and the federal government offered special rates for government employees and their families.

Kupor wrote that the program is outdated and rarely used, with less than 0.2% of the federal workforce participating. More agencies are offering their own training programs, he said.

The change comes amid ongoing clashes between President Donald Trump and universities across the country.

Last week, Northwestern University agreed to pay $75 million to settle allegations of antisemitism and illegal race-based admissions, following in the footsteps of Columbia University, Brown University, Cornell University, and other elite colleges that have sought to regain federal funding by meeting the administration’s demands. Trump’s critics say it’s an attempt to bend campuses to his will, seeing them as an incubator of liberal ideology.

The Federal Academic Alliance comprises more than three dozen universities, including Georgetown University, Purdue University, and Villanova University, which were notified of the program’s upcoming Jan. 30 closure on Monday. Universities usually offer a 10%-25% discount for federal employees pursuing master’s degrees.