What Is MyCAA?

MyCAA is a government-sponsored program that offers financial assistance to military spouses who want to train for new careers.

Eligible spouses can use MyCAA funding to pay for any educational or training program that leads to licensure, certification, or degrees. MyCAA is available to all spouses of active-duty service members in eligible pay grades. Spouses of active and reserve National Guard members are eligible as well.

Signing up is simple. Just start a MyCAA account to check your eligibility and connect with a rep from the approved school you want to attend.

The Best-Known Perks

As a workforce development program, MyCAA offers up to $4,000, in $2,000 increments per fiscal year, in financial assistance. That total of $4,000 is a scholarship—not a loan—which means two things:

• You don’t have to pay it back.
• You don’t have to pay taxes on it.

You get the money free and clear, and you can put it toward any approved training program. Approved programs focus on preparing students for high-demand, portable careers—the kinds that have jobs available across the country.

Many military spouses are used to finding new jobs wherever they go, sometimes needing to switch fields and industries with every move. This is where MyCAA makes a difference. It lets you start a stable and long-term career that you can take with you wherever you go, so you don’t have to start from scratch every time.

The Most Underrated Perk

Of all perks that MyCAA promotes and that people talk about when they refer to the program, there’s one that’s not so well-known:

With a MyCAA grant, you could get an education and pay nothing out of pocket.

The key is to find a training provider that offers programs in the field you want to enter. That’s where MedCerts comes in.

MedCerts offers dozens of programs in fields like healthcare, IT, manufacturing, and machining. Every program is linked to a nationally recognized certification, and many cost $4,000 or less. Career training with MedCerts could cost you nothing if you fund them using a MyCAA scholarship.

Options for programs include:

• Medical Assistant
• Pharmacy Technician Professional
• Electronic Health Records Specialist
• IT Network Technician
• IT Support Professionals

All of these careers are in growing fields and have opportunities available across the United States and beyond.

The Takeaway

If you take the time to find the right program, MyCAA can get you started in a new, portable career at no cost to you. In as little as a few months, you can prepare for certification in an in-demand field like healthcare or IT.

Your first step is to set up an appointment with a MedCerts Education Consultant and talk about what program might work for you.