New Regulations for Military Spouse Education Grants

In February 2010, the Department of Defense (DoD) axed its Military Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA) program aimed at providing education grants for spouses of military personnel.  The DoD, at that time, had a budget of $174 million for the program; when a huge increase in applications flooded in, the Department's solution was to temporarily halt the program until new policies could be formed to control spending and applicant eligibility.  Set to re-initiate in October, the revised MyCAA regulations limit the eligible applicant pool in three key ways:

• Before the halt in February, there were no rank limitations. Now, only the spouses of service-members in the five lowest enlisted ranks and those classified as junior officers are eligible.
  
• The maximum grant amount was $6,000. Under the new policy, grantees are given a maximum of $4,000.
  
• Grants may now only be used in pursuit of a two-year associate's degree or towards a professional license or certificate program. The old MyCAA program paid for bachelor's and graduate courses.
  

With these new regulations in place, the DoD hopes to channel funding to those most in-need of educational assistance.  Cynthia Smith, a spokesperson for the Department, has said that the new policies are meant to provide help to the spouses of younger service members who typically have less disposable income and, therefore, are less likely to already have or to pursue higher education.  By returning the program to its original mission of aiding spouses in achieving career goals, an especially difficult task given frequent relocations of military families, the DoD hopes to remain fiscally responsible with its limited budget.  What this means is that about 379,500 spouses will be ineligible for MyCAA, that's about half of the 743,000 spouses of military personnel.

Despite the Department's quick turn-around at revitalizing the education grant program, The Military Officers Association of America maintains that the new measures to cap eligible applicants penalizes the military families with the most challenges - those who've served the longest, those whose spouses are officers and are even more-frequently relocated, and those who choose to pursue a level of education above a two-year associate's degree.  However, Donald Johnson, a director at Jefferson Community College in Northern New York State, would rather see the MyCAA program thrive with new policies than to die all-together from lack of DoD funding. There are currently 160 students at Jefferson utilizing the education grant program.  The school's administration expects increased enrollment because of the reinstated MyCAA program.  New York State Representative William L. Owens agrees and adds: "MyCAA creates an environment that leads to job growth."

As with most government-funded programs, no one set of policies will satisfy everyone.  Regulations are necessary to ensure a program that's in-line with budgetary constraints.  The new MyCAA rules ensure a fiscally-sound program, but do they unnecessarily alienate some potential applicants?

Photo Credit: Evan Roberts