PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
Secretary Gates, Reinstate the Spouses Tuition Assistance Program
  1. Signatures
    93 out of 100
    Petitioning
    1. Office of the Secretary of Defense (Defense Secretary Robert Gates)
  2. Created By
    Brandann Hill-Mann
    Brimley, MI
About this Petition Petition Letter

As a way to help military spouses further their educations and advance their careers in hopes of gaining employment that tolerates the frequent moves of a military lifestyle, the military began an assistance program to help defray the costs of that education. The Military Career Advancement Accounts program (MyCAA) offered assistance of up to $6,000 for eligible spouses, but last month the program suddenly stopped, leaving spouses (mostly women, many of them parents) to scramble for other means to budget paying for their classes.

Recent Signatures

Military Spouses Need Their Tuition Assistance Reinstated

Greetings to the Honorable Secretary Gates,

As you are probably aware by now the Military Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA) program, designed to help military spouses further their education by defraying costs, was abruptly halted. The program was a tool that offered to assist these spouses in attaining gainful employment that would both pay a livable wage and tolerate the frequent moves of a military lifestyle.

The program's abrupt halt, being very close to the start date for many classes, left almost 98,000 spouses scrambling for other ways to pay for those classes. Many will be forced to take out loans that will further strain their family budgets, while some will have to drop out altogether. Some will turn to the Post 9/11 G.I. Bills that their spouses have paid into and earned, an additional sacrifice that should not be asked of our servicemembers.

You have it in your power to see to it that this program is reinstated quickly to show military spouses that their many sacrifices do not go unnoticed, and that you know that their life ambitions are not trivial. Their achievements add to the strength of our servicemembers' homes, and that is part of what makes them the best. Please see to it that this is done.

Thank you, Secretary, for your time.

[Your name]

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