MyCAA: What It Is & How It Works

The Department of Defense is committed to helping eligible military spouses gain meaningful IT skills. In partnership with the Spouse Education and Career Opportunities Program, MyCAA extends up to $4,000 in financial support to spouses pursuing IT education.

MyCAA — the My Career Advancement Account Scholarship — is a workforce development program that allows eligible military spouses to pursue the best that career readiness education allows.

Each year for two years, you can meet a $2,000 fiscal year cap to pursue or maintain credentials for a career pursuit of your choice at any approved institution. If your annual costs exceed $2,000, you may be able to obtain a waiver that allows you to “borrow” from your $4,000 maximum spend, without waiting a year.

This funding can be used toward any eligible certification, bootcamp or program, one that fortifies your skills as a military spouse in anticipation of a next-level career.

How do I get started?

Before you can pursue financial assistance for an educational opportunity of your choice, you’ll need to make sure that you’re fully eligible to receive MyCAA funding.

To determine your eligibility, you’ll first need to apply for MyCAA funding.

While your eligibility for MyCAA will depend on a number of factors, you’ll need to meet the following criteria:

• You’re a spouse of a servicemember in active duty
• Your active duty spouse meets a pay grade of E-1 through E-5, W-1 to W-2 or O-1 to O-2
• You have successfully completed high school
• You can independently request education assistance

You are also eligible if you are the spouse of a member of the National Guard, or if your spouse is in the military reserves — as long as they meet the above pay grades.

In some cases, you might be ineligible to receive MyCAA funding. For example, you would not meet MyCAA requirements if you:

• Are married, but are legally separated from your military spouse
• Are under court order or statute of any state or U.S. territory

If your spouse is in the National Guard or the reserves, and they are currently under warning orders or alert, post-deployment, mobilization or transition status, you would also not be deemed eligible for MyCAA funding.

To be deemed fully eligible for a MyCAA scholarship, you’ll need to submit all required Spouse Profile information.

What will the MyCAA scholarship pay for?

You can apply your MyCAA funding toward any approved educational opportunity. Use your scholarship at any registered educational or academic institution — including online programming — to receive assistance with the cost of one-time or ongoing accreditation.

You can also use your MyCAA scholarship funding to meet the costs of national tests for course credits, which you’ll need to ultimately obtain a degree approved by the program. Eligible learning paths include the College Level Examination Program tests.

While your MyCAA scholarship covers a wide range of learning opportunities, there are certain items that your funding will not accommodate. In particular, your MyCAA scholarship will not pay for the following:

• Programs not included in your spouse’s Education & Training Plan
• Reimbursements
• Supplementary learning materials, including books, computers, clothing or other equipment
• Events or transportation
• Deposits for future learning opportunities
• Prerequisite courses
• Ungraded courses
• Repeated courses
• Personal enrichment courses
• High school completion courses

In addition, your MyCAA scholarship will not cover any educational programs that your spouse has already begun or completed.

What will I learn in a MyCAA-sponsored program?

Here’s the great news: you can learn a vast array of useful skills through a MyCAA sponsored program. We typically advocate that military spouses learn skills that will prepare them for the professional workforce, and that you align your skillset with current markets.

When deciding on your preferred MyCAA-sponsored learning program, consider two factors: the strength of the market and the projected future of that market.

For example - We often suggest that military spouses consider cybersecurity as a career opportunity. The cybersecurity market reached a $156.24 billion valuation in 2020, and should reach a $352.25 billion valuation by 2026.

More importantly, cybersecurity careers have never been in higher demand.

Employment for information security analysts — one of several potential six-figure cybersecurity careers — is estimated to grow 33% from 2020 to 2030.

QuickStart IT BootCamps are different from other certification programs, as they offer flexibility for students to work through courses at their own pace. Online learning through the AI-based cognitive learning platform offers various learning modalities and rich content with informal learning – content outside the official course material. Students are also given access to live mentoring sessions with experienced, professional coaches. Graduates are offered a career counseling period to ensure that they’re successful upon obtaining their certification.

If you’re a military spouse ready to pursue an in-person or remote career in tech, we can help you get there in 24 weeks or less. Our MyCAA accredited programs help students just like you take full control of emerging six-figure tech careers, to accommodate job shortages in fields like cybersecurity, networking and digital security. Work from home while you fulfill the fully portable career you know you deserve.

Speak to a member of our Solutions team this week to create a MyCAA-sponsored learning path toward long-term tech success.