Why Military Spouses Should Take Advantage Of Their MyCAA Benefits

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

The military life comes with many great aspects but also many challenges. One of the biggest ones for some military spouses is finding the time and money to complete their educations and career goals. Luckily there are many options to make completing your own educational goals easier. The best part about many of these solutions is that they are portable and can go wherever you go. I personally used MyCAA when I first started my journey of going back to school. At the time I was enrolled in a full time program however the funds were still handy in covering my tuition for a semester. That being said MyCAA in my opinion is more beneficial for certificate programs which can be completed faster. This comes in handy since military families PCS so often.

What is MyCAA?

In terms of financing your education Uncle Sam has created some help for eligible enlisted dependents through a program you probably have heard of called MyCAA. Martinsburg College and The Military Times recently shared many military spouses are underusing or haven’t take advantage of of MyCAA. Below is why you should.

The Military Spouse Career Advancement Account is financial assistance for military spouses to use towards training in a portable career field or towards an associates degree that caps out at $4000 a year. It is available to active duty Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, National Guard, or Reserve member in pay grades E1-E5, O1-O2, or W1-W2 with more than 6 months before separation/retirement.

Why You Use MyCAA

In most cases the assistance can fully cover the entire tuition of a  certificate training program. For instance Martinsburg College offers certificate programs such as Homeland Security, Pharmacy Technician, and Health Administration Technology plus several more. They are an accredited school and work with military spouses to use their MyCAA benefits in programs that can be taken with you no matter where the military sends your family. MyCAA is completely free and you do not have to pay it back. Not to mention it is always great to have portable career training under your belt, even if you don’t use it right away.

Cool Facts About Martinburg College and Attending There

• Depending on the program students are provided with digital access to one or more textbooks related to their areas of study. These resources are very expensive ranging from $100 to more than $300 per program if a student were required to purchase them.
• The textbooks are made available within the learning management system or students can choose to utilize a tablet which the college provides on loan for more comfortable and portable access. The college also provides a resource library of thousands of textbooks which are available online at no cost.
• Students may access instructional support Monday through Thursday 7:30 AM – 11 PM, Fridays 9 AM – 6 PM, and Saturdays 11 AM – 6 PM. It is not uncommon at many colleges to offer only a few hours of availability per week if that.
• In addition if a student requires one-on-one and direct telephone or digital tutoring sessions the college provides those resources.
• Or college has been working with the military community since 2004. We understand the needs of service members and their families and have adapted our institutional policies to ensure that we take into consideration the unique challenges faced by this student group.
• While the college strongly encourages each student to adhere to their learning plan and their schedule a recognizes the need for flexibility when the demands of service interfere. We work with students for as long as it takes in order to achieve success. Our instructional methodology accommodates a wide variety of learning styles as well as providing for flexibility of time and place for engaging in coursework.

Lastly always keep certain thoughts in mind when considering which institution that accepts MyCAA to attend. For instance will the school consider the unique challenges faced by you as part of a military family? Areas of specialization is also important a four-year liberal arts college is not the best place to seek skills training which is better found at a technically oriented institution like Martinsburg College and vice versa.

I also love when education providers take the conversation to social media. Martinsburg College has a cool group on Facebook called Military Spouses in the Field: Career Development that helps military spouses transition to the career field that you may want to check out as well.

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Army Wife 101

Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market. She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries.

Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market. She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries.