Balancing military family life and education is hard, but it isn’t impossible. Sacrifice is necessary and good.
But in regards to education, your family and community will all benefit if you decide to make earning a degree your personal priority. But, can your family afford for you to go to college?
There is help available!
Through July 12, 2016, Home Depot is taking entries to give one military spouse a $10,000 scholarship towards their school of choice! This opportunity only comes around ONCE per year and is perfect for eliminating a chunk of your tuition. Check it out!
Additionally, there are those year-round educational opportunities – most of which people in the military community are familiar with – that are available for the active-duty member of the family, including the Montgomery GI Bill, the Post 9/11 GI Bill, and branchspecific Tuition Assistance (TA).
But what about year-round educational opportunities for military spouses?
Here are four “lesser-known” federal funding programs that are available specifically for you:
1 | MyCAA Program
MyCAA can be used at several different types of schools and is like TA for spouses. It stands for My Career Advancement Account and provides tuition credits of up to $4,000 ($2,000 a year for up to two years) towards an associate degree or professional certification at an accredited college.
2 | Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO) Program
SECO is offered by the Department of Defense through Military OneSource. The program is focused on portability planning, not directly funding your education, but it can help you plan for your career. SECO also provides links to other valuable degree-planning resources.
3 | U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Educational Benefits
This is for both spouses and survivors. Generally, this covers 45 months of education, but it can be combined with other programs like the Survivors and Dependents Educational Assistance Program and the GI Bill, which extends the benefit to up to 81 months.
