Funding · Military spouses

MyCAA — the SpouseWorks Scholarship

Up to $4,000 for a licence, a certification or an associate degree that you can take with you to the next duty station. The program was renamed and opened to every rank and pay grade, so if you were turned away before because of your spouse's rank, that rule is gone. Here is how it works now, start to finish.

Browse certification courses Open the scholarship portal SECO coaches · 800-342-9647

$4,000the lifetime maximum, once per spouse
$2,000the most you can normally use in one fiscal year
3 yearsto finish, counted from the start of your first course
$0out of pocket — the scholarship pays the school directly

What this scholarship is

Military spouses lose jobs to PCS orders. The scholarship exists to put a qualification in your hands that does not care where you live — a certification, a licence or a two-year degree in a field that hires everywhere and increasingly hires remotely. It pays the school directly, so nothing comes out of your pocket and waits for reimbursement.

Two names, one benefit

Officially the SpouseWorks Scholarship
Still known everywhere as MyCAA, and the portal still lives at the mycaa address
Run through Military OneSource and its SECO career coaches
A school advertising "MyCAA approved" means this program

What it is not

Not a loan and not a reimbursement — it pays the school
Not for bachelor's or graduate degrees
Not available to a spouse who is also serving on Title 10 orders
Not usable at a school that is not an approved provider

If you were declined before, read this line twice. Eligibility used to stop at E-6, W-2 and O-3. It no longer does: the scholarship is open across ranks and pay grades for spouses of service members on qualifying Title 10 orders. A denial from three years ago says nothing about today.

Who qualifies

Married to a service member on qualifying Title 10 orders. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force or Space Force — active duty, National Guard or Reserve.
Any rank, any pay grade. The old E1–E6 / W1–W2 / O1–O3 ceiling is gone. If you were turned away years ago because of your spouse's rank, you were turned away under a rule that no longer exists.
Not a service member yourself. A spouse who is also serving on Title 10 orders is not eligible for this scholarship.
Married, not legally separated. Eligibility ends with the marriage or with the orders.
Guard and Reserve: while the orders run. Eligibility follows the sponsor's qualifying orders, so timing matters more than it does for an active-duty family.
Pursuing something portable. A licence, a certification or an associate degree that leads to employment — the kind of qualification that survives a PCS.

Eligibility is checked against DEERS. If your record is out of date — a marriage not yet reflected, orders that have changed — fix that first, because the portal will decline you on the record rather than on the merits.

What the money covers

Fundable

Tuition for licences and certifications: The course itself, where it leads to a credential in an eligible career field.
Associate degrees: Two-year degrees tied to employment, not open-ended study.
Exam and testing fees: The credential exam and national testing costs.
Continuing education to keep a credential: Where the CE is needed to maintain a licence or certification you already hold for work.

Not fundable

Bachelor's and graduate degrees: Not what this scholarship is for. A transferred GI Bill or federal aid is the route there.
Courses already taken: It does not reimburse what you paid for before your plan was approved.
Books, supplies and equipment: Generally outside the scholarship. Ask your career coach before assuming a cost is covered.
A third attempt at a failed course: Two failures and the program stops funding that course.
Anything outside your approved plan: The Education and Training Plan is the contract. Changing course means changing the plan first.

How the $4,000 behaves

$2,000 in a fiscal year is the normal ceiling. The fiscal year runs October to September, and there is a waiver route toward the full $4,000 — ask your coach rather than assuming.
Three years, from your first course. The clock starts when you start studying, not when you are approved, so a long pause in the middle costs you.
It is once per spouse. Spend it on the qualification that gets you hired, not the cheapest one on the list.

How to apply, step by step

Most of this is waiting on other people, which is exactly why you start earlier than feels necessary. Two to four weeks from first login to an approved plan is normal.

Set up your DS Logon
Everything else hangs off it. If yours has lapsed, sorting it out now saves a week later.
Create your account in the scholarship portal
At mycaa.militaryonesource.mil. It checks your eligibility against DEERS, so make sure your record is current before you wonder why you were declined.
Talk to a SECO career coach
Free, and required in practice. Call 800-342-9647. The coach helps you choose a career field the scholarship will actually fund — this is the step spouses skip and regret.
Pick the credential and the school
The provider has to be approved for the scholarship. If the school you want is not listed, approval takes time, so find this out before you fall in love with a start date.
Get an Education and Training Plan from the school
The ETP lists the courses, the costs and the dates. The school writes it; you upload it.
Build your plan in the portal and submit it
Your goal, your school, your courses, your ETP. Allow up to 14 business days for review, and do not book anything on the assumption it will be quicker.
Request funding in the window
Between 60 days before your class starts and the day before it starts. Outside that window the request cannot be made at all.
Attend, pass, and keep the plan current
Grades go back to the portal. If your plan changes — a new course, a new date, a PCS — update it rather than hoping nobody notices.

The timing, in one line

Pick your class date. You may request funding from 60 days before it until the day before it starts — but your plan has to be approved first, and that review alone can take 14 business days. Work backwards from the class, not forwards from today.

What goes wrong

Eight things account for most of the disappointment with this scholarship, and none of them are about whether you deserve it.

Starting the class before funding is approved

The scholarship will not pay retroactively. A class that has already begun is a class you are paying for.

Requesting outside the 60-day window

Too early is as fatal as too late. Sixty days before the start date is the earliest the portal will take it.

Choosing a school that is not an approved provider

Perfectly good schools sit outside the program. Check first, and if they are not listed, ask how long approval takes.

Assuming you are ineligible because of rank

The pay-grade ceiling is gone. Spouses who were declined years ago are reapplying successfully now.

Letting DEERS go stale

Eligibility is checked against DEERS. A record that does not reflect your marriage or the current orders produces a denial that has nothing to do with your plan.

Treating the coach call as a formality

The coach knows which career fields are funded and which are not. Twenty minutes here prevents a plan rejection three weeks later.

Forgetting the three-year clock

It starts with your first course, not with your approval. A long gap in the middle can leave money unusable.

Planning around $4,000 in one year

The normal annual limit is $2,000. Ask about the waiver rather than assuming the full amount is available at once.

What to study with it

The test of a good choice here is simple: could you do this job from the next duty station, or from home? These fields pass that test, and they are what we teach.

Cybersecurity

Remote-friendly, cleared or uncleared, and hiring everywhere — the strongest fit for a career that has to move when you do.

CompTIA Security+The credential most cyber job postings list first, and the DoD baseline.

CompTIA CySA+Security analysis, a common first cyber role.

ISC2 CCEntry-level certified in cybersecurity; a genuine starting point with no experience.

EC-Council CEHEthical hacking, recognized across government contracting.

IT support and networking

The fastest route from no technical background to employable, and every job is portable.

CompTIA A+Help desk and client systems: the standard first certification.

CompTIA Network+Networking fundamentals; pairs naturally with A+.

Cisco CCNAThe networking credential employers name in job ads.

Cloud

Remote work by default, and the skills shortage is real.

AWS Certified Cloud PractitionerThe entry point; no engineering background needed.

Microsoft Azure AdministratorAzure runs most government and enterprise workloads.

AWS Certified Solutions ArchitectThe credential that changes what you are paid.

Project management

Portable by definition, and it values the organising you have already been doing.

PMI CAPMThe way in before you have the PMP hours.

PMI PMPThe credential hiring managers recognize on sight.

ITIL 4 FoundationService management, widely used across contractors.

See every course and date Not sure where to start? Try thinQcompass™

Starting from no technical background is normal here. A+ then Network+ then Security+ is a well-worn path from no experience to a job offer, and every step of it is portable.

How thinQtank fits in

Straight answer first: thinQtank is not yet an approved provider for this scholarship. Approval is in progress. We would rather tell you that here than let you spend three weeks building a plan around us and find out at the end. Call or write and we will tell you exactly where it stands — and if your dates cannot wait, we will help you find a funded route that can.

An Education and Training Plan that fits

Courses, costs and dates in the format the portal expects, with the credential named the way the program names it — ready the day approval lands.

Dates that survive a review

We run camps often enough that a 14-business-day review does not cost you a cohort. Tell us the timeline and we will point you at the date that works.

Retakes, in part or in full

Every student can retake the class, in person or online, for 24 months. A scholarship you only get once deserves a second run at the material if you need it.

Live, in person or on WebEx

Childcare, a job, a spouse in the field: you attend the live camp from wherever you are, and you are not watching a recording.

A pre-class call with your instructor

Every student gets one. If you are coming in without a technical background, that call is where the week gets aimed at you rather than at the syllabus.

If the scholarship is not the answer

It does not fit everyone, and it does not cover everything. thinQflex lets you name a price and spread it over twelve months — the fallback, not the supplement.

Questions spouses actually ask

Is MyCAA still called MyCAA?

The program is now the SpouseWorks Scholarship. Everyone still calls it MyCAA, the portal still lives at mycaa.militaryonesource.mil, and it is the same benefit. If a school advertises "MyCAA approved", they mean this.

How much is it?

Up to $4,000 over your lifetime, normally no more than $2,000 in a single fiscal year, and it has to be spent within three years of your first course starting.

My spouse is a senior NCO. Are we too high in rank?

No. The scholarship is open across ranks and pay grades now. The old ceiling is the single most out-of-date thing you will read about this program.

Can Guard and Reserve spouses use it?

Yes, while the sponsor is on qualifying Title 10 orders. The orders are what the eligibility check looks at, so plan your course dates around them.

What can I study?

Licences, certifications and associate degrees that lead to employment in a portable career field — work you can take with you to the next duty station. Not bachelor's or graduate degrees.

Does it pay for the exam as well as the class?

Exam and national testing fees are within scope. Books, supplies and equipment generally are not. Your career coach will tell you where the line falls for your plan.

How long does approval take?

Allow up to 14 business days for plan review, plus whatever time the coach call and the ETP take. Two to four weeks from first login to approved plan is a realistic expectation.

When exactly do I request the money?

No earlier than 60 days before the class starts, and no later than the day before it starts.

What if the school I want is not on the approved list?

They can apply to be approved, but it is not instant. Ask the school directly where they stand before you build a plan around them.

I was denied years ago. Should I try again?

Yes, particularly if the reason was your spouse's rank. That rule changed. So did the name.

Can I use it for a second credential later?

Until your $4,000 is spent and your three years are up, yes. Plan the sequence: one credential that gets you hired, then one that moves you up.

Can thinQtank train me on this scholarship?

Not yet on this scholarship — provider approval is in progress, and we will not pretend otherwise while a spouse is planning around it. Call us anyway: we will tell you where the approval stands, and if you need to start sooner than that, we will point you at the funded route that fits, ours or somebody else's.

Start with the coach, then talk to us

Call 800-342-9647 and book the SECO coaching session — it is free, it is quick, and it is what makes the rest of this work. Then tell us what you are aiming at and we will help you build the rest of the plan around real dates.

Call us · 855-868-4467 Send us your plan Other funding routes

Program information reviewed September 2026 against Military OneSource published guidance. The program was renamed the SpouseWorks Scholarship and its rules change: confirm current eligibility, caps and windows at mycaa.militaryonesource.mil or with a SECO career coach before you apply. thinQtank Learning is a training provider and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an agent of the Department of Defense.

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