• MILITARY RESOURCES
• Articles
• Military Ranks
• Military Bases

Military Spouse Jobs Programs Set to Relaunch

July 22, 2010

The Department of Defense (DoD) has announced that it has completed a comprehensive review of the Military Spouse Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) program and will begin making the recommended changes in order to have the program prepared for its resumption target date of October 25, 2010. Officials have stated that these changes were necessary to ensure that the longevity of the program is realized.

Due to an overwhelming number of enrollments, it was necessary to temporarily suspend the program back in February. This surge resulted in the program nearly attaining the threshold of the allotted budget. However, the spouses who had already established an account, which was in excess of 136,000, were allowed to resume taking advantage of the program benefits back in March.

The changes are said to reestablish the original intent of the program, which is to provide the necessary assistance to the spouses of service members that are interested in pursuing portable careers. A portable career is one that is easily transferrable from location to location, such as a health care career or a career in real estate. There is an obvious necessity for this type of career preparation for military spouses, since military members are frequently transferred from one duty location to the next.

Again, the new guidelines of the MyCAA program are necessary to sustain the program for the long-term. The program will be available to the spouses of active duty military members in the pay grades of E1 – E5, W1 – W2, and O1 – O2. Each eligible spouse would receive a maximum of a $4,000 benefit, capping at $2,000 per year. A waiver will be for a spouse that is in pursuit of a license or certification that falls within the $4,000 allotment. Furthermore, the program requires a military spouse to finish the program within three years from the start date of the first course, and the program is limited to associate degrees, certification, and licensure.

This program was not intended for those individuals in pursuit of a bachelor’s or master’s degree, but a military spouse has other avenues available to them if this is the goal. For example, there are scholarships, federal grants, and the Post-9/11 GI Bill that they may utilize to complete an advanced degree.

Portability is important to you… even necessary. So, you may want to seriously consider finding an online degree program that suits your needs. Below you will find a number of online schools that provide certifications, associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, and master’s degrees. Many of them have specific benefits for military members and their spouses. You may want to request information from several of these schools so that you can find the right program, and school, for you.