Information for Military Spouses

Overview

Loyola University New Orleans has recently been approved to participate in the Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts ("MyCAA") Program. This program provides up to $6,000 in financial assistance to military spouses who are seeking licenses, certifications and academic degree credentials needed for employment in "portable" career fields.

The program was suspended earlier this year. However,  the MyCAA program  resumed operations on March 13, 2010  for military spouses who currently have existing MyCAA accounts. Those who have an existing account will have access to the entire Web site, including the ability to create and have financial documents approved.

• MyCAA Fact Sheet

Latest News

The Department Of Defense has completed the program review and will be making the necessary adjustments to resume the MyCAA program beginning in October 2010.

New financial assistance guidelines:

With a focus on the original intent of the program, the Defense Department’s financial assistance program will:

• Be available to spouses of active duty service members in pay grades E1-E5, W1-W2, and O1-O2 
• Offer a maximum financial benefit of $4,000 with a fiscal year cap of $2,000.  Waivers will be available for spouses pursuing licensure or certification up to the total maximum assistance of $4,000
• Require military spouses to finish their program of study within three years from the start date of the first course
• Be limited to associate degrees, certification and licensures

These new guidelines reflect a return to the original purpose of the program- to assist spouses of service members achieve portable careers. These changes also align the program with responsible fiscal planning by the Defense Department to help sustain the program. Additional program details will be posted on this Web site when they become available. We encourage you to check the site often.

• Spouses who currently have an active account will be allowed to request financial assistance until Thursday, October 21, 2010. And beginning September 1, 2010, spouses may request financial assistance for classes that have a start date up to January 15, 2011. To ensure adequate time to plan for courses, no career plans will be accepted after August 31, 2010. All currently approved financial assistance documents will be honored.

  Additionally, the review revealed that National Guard and Reserve members must be on active duty for their spouses to receive the MyCAA benefit.

  • Spouses may no longer use the MyCAA benefit when the service member is in an alert or demobilization period.
  • The new eligibility rule takes effect immediately.

  The program will be closed from Friday, October 22 to Monday, October 25, 2010, so that we may ensure the infrastructure is in place to implement the new program. 

  Other Resources for Spouses

• Military Spouse Employment Resources: 
• 23 States Have Now Passed Pro-Military Spouse License Portability Measures
• Military Spouse Support Network
• Military Spouse Employment Program
• Military Spouse Help
• Military Spouse TalkRadio.com
• VetSuccess for the Veteran's Family
• Resource page for "dislocated workers"
• WelcomeBackVeterans.org
• Gold Star Wives of America
• Blue Star Families
• MilitaryHOMEFRONT is the Department of Defense website for official Military Community and Family Policy (MC&FP) program information, policy and guidance designed to help troops and their families, leaders, and service providers
• Military OneSource -  is a free service provided by the Department of Defense to service members and their families to help with a broad range of concerns including money management, spouse employment and education, parenting and child care, relocation, deployment, reunion, and the particular concerns of families with special-needs members. 
•  U.S. Department of Education website dedicated to Veterans and Military Families
• United Through Reading - United Through Reading, the nation’s first nonprofit to promote the read aloud experience for separated families, offers deployed parents the opportunity to be video-recorded reading storybooks to their children which creates positive emotional connections and cultivates a love of reading.  By participating, deployed parents can turn downtime into Mommy or Daddy time to help ease the stress of separation, build family resiliency and make homecomings easier.

Updated September 24, 2012