Heading Back to School....for free?!

I remember exactly where I was when we found out where our next duty station was going to be. For many months, we were under the impression that we would be stationed in San Antonio, Texas. The idea of moving to Texas alone was going to be a difficult adjustment for me - being a California girl and growing up within 20 minutes of the beach has forever spoiled me. Yet, I thought to myself, San Antonio is a big city and has a lot going on so I know I can do this.


However, things changed (as they often do with the military) and San Antonio was not going to be our final destination. Oh no...we were now on our way to good ol' San Angelo, Texas. I would be lying if I said I just puffed out my chest and took the news like a champ. Nope, instead my emotions completely took over. After a good 3 minute crying session, I wiped my tears and knew I had to come up with a plan. Since finding a job in my line of work was going to be rather difficult, if not impossible, I had to seek an alternate way to make good use of my time while we were stationed there.


Once we arrived, a fellow spouse informed me of this educational funding program for spouses of active duty service members, MyCAA (Military Career Advancement Account), and I immediately started looking into it. Here is a brief breakdown on what MyCAA is all about:

• It provides up to $4,000 in financial assistance for associate degree programs, licenses and certifications.
• To be eligible you must be the spouse of an active-duty service member or an activated member of  the National Guard Reserves AND your active duty spouse will need to fall into pay grades E-1- E-5, W1-W2 and O1-O2.
• There is a yearly cap of $2,000 (i.e. the classes you enroll in cannot cost more than $2000 per year). However, there are cap waivers for license and certificate programs if the school can make an upfront tuition payment for the program, as long as the entire cost does not exceed $4000.
• You must be able to finish the program in 3 years from your start date. 
• Many schools/areas of study accept MyCAA so you won't be limited on what you decide to choose.
• MyCAA will cover all tuition costs, but will not cover any "extra" items, i.e. books, tests, course extensions, child care, etc. 

To officially confirm your eligibility for the MyCAA program, you can start by opening an account by visiting the online portal: https://aiportal.acc.af.mil/mycaa. A real-time DEERS eligibility check will confirm if you meet MyCAA eligibility requirements so you can move forward and establish your MyCAA Account.  

If you need additional help, you can call 1-800-342-9647 to speak with a MyCAA Career and Education Consultant (I've spoken to a number of MyCAA consultants and they've all been really helpful with this process).

So yes, I decided to hit the books another time and gain some additional skills to add to my resume during this "down" time. Since I already have a Bachelor's degree I opted to get a certificate in Search Engine Optimization (nerd alert!) online. It took me about 7 months to finish and now future employers know that I took advantage of this time to be productive.

 Hope you decide to take advantage of one of the many awesome and FREE programs the military has to offer!