Paying for your training
Your certification may already be funded.
If you serve, have served, or are married to someone who does, there is probably a program that will pay for the course and the exam. Four of them matter most for IT and cybersecurity credentials. Here is what each one covers, who qualifies, and the rules that catch people out.
Four ways to fund a credential
Every one of these pays the school directly. None of them reimburse you for money you have already spent — which makes the order of operations the most important thing on this page.
Air Force COOL
Pays for the credentials tied to your AFSC or Space Force career field — study materials, the prep course and the exam — up to a lifetime ceiling.
What it covers →Army Credentialing Assistance
Funds one civilian credential per fiscal year — course, materials and exam — for enlisted Soldiers and warrant officers across all three components.
What it covers →MyCAA
The military spouse scholarship for licenses and certifications. Renamed the SpouseWorks Scholarship, but most people still search for MyCAA.
What it covers →VET TEC 2.0
VA pays a high-tech training provider directly, and pays you a housing allowance while you train. Back since 2026 after the original pilot expired.
What it covers →The rules at a glance
Numbers move. These were checked against official sources in August 2026 — the program page for each one links straight to the source.
| Program | Who it is for | What it pays | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force COOL | Enlisted Air Force and Space Force | $4,500 across your whole career | Lifetime cap, not annual. Officers and drilling reservists are out. |
| Army CA | Enlisted and warrant officers | $2,000 per fiscal year, one credential | Shares a $4,500 pot with Tuition Assistance. Commissioned officers lost eligibility in March 2026. |
| MyCAA | Military spouses | Up to $4,000 | Licenses and certifications only, and an approved training plan has to come first. |
| VET TEC 2.0 | Veterans and members within 180 days of separating | Tuition, a housing allowance and books | Only 4,000 people are funded per fiscal year, and it now charges GI Bill entitlement. |
How this works, whichever program you use
The shape is the same every time.
Work out which program applies to you
Serving, separated, or the spouse of someone serving — that answers it most of the time.
Go to the official portal, not to us
AFVEC, ArmyIgnitED, the SpouseWorks portal or VA.gov. We are the school, not the approving authority, and we cannot decide your eligibility.
Pick the credential and ask us for a quote
Every portal wants the same things: your name, the dates, itemised costs. Tell us which program it is for and we will format it to suit.
Submit the funding request and wait for approval
This is the step to be patient with. Approval has to land before anything else happens.
Train, test, and report your result
Every program has a reporting deadline, and every one of them can claw the money back if you miss it.
Credentials people fund this way
Vendor-neutral foundations and the certifications that show up most often in military and government role requirements.
CompTIA
The baseline for most DoD 8140 cyber workforce roles, and the usual first credential.
See CompTIA courses →Cisco
Networking and network security, from the associate level up.
See Cisco courses →ISC²
The senior cybersecurity credentials, and the ones that move a salary the most.
See ISC² courses →PMI
Project management, and a common non-technical pick for a second credential.
See PMI courses →Questions we get asked
Can I pay now and get the money back later?
No — and this is the mistake that costs people the most. Army CA, AF COOL and MyCAA all pay the school directly, and none of them reimburse out-of-pocket spending. If you enroll or buy an exam voucher before your funding is approved, that is your money. Get the approval first, every time.
Is Air Force COOL $4,500 a year?
No. It is $4,500 for your entire career. Within that, prep courses are capped at $2,000 per credential goal and study materials at $500.
I am an Army officer. Can I still use Credentialing Assistance?
Not for anything new. Commissioned officers became ineligible on 19 March 2026 under ALARACT 102/2025. If you had a credential goal submitted and unfinished before that date, you can still request funding to finish that one. Tuition Assistance is unaffected — officers remain eligible for TA.
Does using Credentialing Assistance eat into my Tuition Assistance?
Yes. They share one $4,500 pot per fiscal year. A $2,000 certification leaves $2,500 for college that year. Worth planning around if you are doing both.
Is VET TEC actually back?
Yes, as VET TEC 2.0. The original pilot expired on 1 April 2024. The Senator Elizabeth Dole Act, signed in January 2025, authorized a new version, and VA opened applications in 2026. It is funded through 30 September 2027, with a ceiling of 4,000 people per fiscal year.
Does VET TEC 2.0 use up my GI Bill?
It charges one month of entitlement per month of full-time training, which the original pilot did not. But that charge does not count against your 48-month maximum, and you can use VET TEC 2.0 even if you have no entitlement left at all.
Do you decide whether I am eligible?
No, and neither does any other school. The Army, the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense and the VA make those decisions inside their own systems. What we can do is tell you what a course costs, get you a quote in the right format, and be honest about whether we can be paid by the program you are using.
Where do I start?
Open the page for your program, check the eligibility list, then go to the official portal it links to. Call us on 855-868-4467 if you want help picking the credential first — that part is free and there is no obligation.
thinQtank® Learning is a training provider. We are not the U.S. Army, ArmyIgnitED, Army COOL, the Department of the Air Force, AFVEC, AF COOL, the Department of Defense, Military OneSource, or the Department of Veterans Affairs, and we are not endorsed by any of them. Eligibility, credential approval, funding availability and payment authorisation are decided by those organizations inside their own systems, under their own policies, which change. Everything on this page was checked against official sources in August 2026 and is offered as a starting point, not as advice about your particular situation. Confirm your own eligibility and current limits in your official portal before you commit to anything.