Military Spouse Scholarship Program & Education Benefits
Military Benefits
Scholarships for College for Military Spouses
Aug 31st
I’ve received lots of email asking about if there were any scholarships for college for military spouses. In this post, I would like to explain about what scholarships military spouses could use for their college tuition and how to apply for them.
Facts about MyCAA (Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts)
Aug 23rd
Facts about MyCAA (Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts)
- The MyCAA program began in November 2007 as a joint initiative between the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor and was initially available to spouses of junior enlisted members
- In 2009 the program was extended to include all spouses. Applicants were able to use up to $6,000 to pursue education that would help them attain employment in portable professions.
- There were approximately 136,000 spouses have enrolled in MyCAA until late 2009.
- MyCAA program was closed to new spouses in February, 2010 while it assessed its original purpose to offer education that would allow for portable careers.
- With the new plan, spouses will be eligible if their husbands are in pay grades E1-E5, the lower five of nine enlisted grades, or if their husbands are W1-W2, O1 or O2, the lower ranks of warrant and commissioned officers.
- However, The programs will be limited to associate degrees, certification and licensures, and the amount has been lowered to $4,000.
- Offer a maximum financial benefit of $4,000 with a fiscal year cap of $2,000. Waivers will be available for spouses pursuing licensure or certification up to the total maximum assistance of $4,000
- DoD will be accepting new application for MyCAA from October 25, 2010
Prepare for your MyCAA program before it is too late. - Click here to see more about Military Spouse Career Advancement Account.
MyCAA Program Has Been Temporary Stopped Due to Its Budget Threshold
Feb 26th
Attention, husbands or wives of military personnel!
There was an announcement about MyCAA that MyCAA program is temporarily halting operations. This pause will not affect approved Financial Assistance documents.
Under the Military Spouse Career Advancement Account program, the husbands or wives of military personnel are eligible to receive up to $6,000 to pursue further education.
Last week, the Defense Department abruptly stopped the program, telling students on the MyCAA website that the program was under review.
The Department of Defense says it saw an unforseen spike in applications this winter and the program almost reached its budget threshold.
The DOD says this is a temporary stop to the program until a new plan is in place.
There are lots of Military Spouse Alternative Education Funding Resources
Spouses say they hope the funding comes back so she and other military spouses can finally finish their degrees.
Click here to Visit More information about MyCAA Announcement.
G.I. Bill Transferability
Dec 7th
Since its first conception, the G.I. Bill has undergone many changes. It has come to be a show piece for all military services and a major draw for enlistments across the board. The new GI Bill is no exception. With the policy changes there are many questions. With the newest GI Bill, the Post 9/11 GI Bill and its change of transferability policy has lead to a great response. The ability of a military member to transfer their educational benefits to a spouse or child is something that many have waited for.
Effective August 1, 2009, the ability, for the first time, to transfer benefits became available. This allows a qualified service member to take their educational benefits and transfer them to immediate family for their use. This would allow 36 months of educational benefits to be used by a spouse or a child of a service member. This applies to all service and service members that qualify Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and other DoD service members. Talk is in the works so that in the future, more Guardsmen may be covered under this policy as well.
The military has long been a staunch advocate of continuing education. Many soldiers that are on a career path have already obtained, or are working on their degrees with the help of programs that the service provides to active duty personnel. They may have enlisted for the educational benefits. They now have the ability to provide that benefit to their family members.
Benefits can be transferred to spouses. Spouses can use the benefit immediately. This means that a military member that is on active duty can transfer their unused benefits to a spouse. That spouse can than immediately start their college education. A spouse has up to 15 years to use the benefit.
A dependent child can also use this program. They have to be 18 or have their high school diploma before they can use the benefit though the service member may transfer to them before that. There is no time limit as to how long they have to use the benefit, but they must use it before reaching the age of 26.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides 36 months of education benefits. This provides for tuition and any incidentals that are associated with school. This means, books, computers, software or anything else that may be deemed as needed for the class is covered. When transferred to a spouse or a dependent child, they also qualify for a monthly living stipend.
Transferability does not have to be to a spouse or to a child.
A service member does not have to pick one or the other. The service member can transfer their benefits to one or more qualifying family members. A spouse and several different children can use the educational benefits. Once benefits are transferred, the marriage of a child or the divorce of a spouse does not affect the benefits. The service member however, can revoke them if they desire to do so.
With the many changes to educational benefits the military has seen, GI Bill transferability was the most requested. President Obama stands behind this furthering of commitment to the military.
New GI Bill Updates
Sep 9th
2009-2010 In-State Tuition and Fee Rates Set - The VA has posted the final 2009-2010 Maximum In-State Tuition & Fees table. It has taken much longer than the VA would have hoped with Guam and Ohio finally reporting their 2009-2010 tuition and fee rates this week. This means veterans and school administrators nation-wide can finally get to work determining exactly how much the New Post-9/11 GI Bill will cover. View the latest Post-9/11 GI Bill Maximum In-State Tuition and Fees rates.
Delays in Payments - As of August 15, 2009 the VA was reporting a backlog of 211,251 GI Bill claims. That represents a an up tick of more than 10 percent from the previous week and a 480 percent increase over same time last year. According to many reports, including an article posted by WBAL-TV, this will likely result in a 10 week (or more) delay in payments for many veterans whose claims are currently pending. The VA has hired an additional 760 people to help address the overwhelming response to the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
Payment Errors – Several school officials are reporting that they have received payments based on the VA’s 2008-2009 maximum in-state tuition & fees table, resulting in underpayments for many schools. This error doesn’t directly affect the payments made to veterans, but it could potentially affect the amount of money a veteran may be required to pay the school if it is not resolved.
Article Source: http://military-education.military.com/2009/08/new-gi-bill-update-aug-17.html
