A new RAND study assessed the effectiveness of DoD's Military Spouse Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) scholarships on military spouses' educational and employment journeys.

The MyCAA scholarship program was established to ease the educational and employment challenges military spouses face, with the hopes of increasing satisfaction with military life and financial stability in order to retain members of the all-volunteer force.

The report found over 380,000 military spouses were eligible for the scholarship; however, only 9 percent applied. Spouses who chose to use the benefit were commonly married to an enlisted service member, have experienced a deployment or military move, have two or more children, and live in areas with high unemployment rates.

[Related: MyCAA Use Linked to Higher Troop Retention, More Spouse Employment: Study]

Spouses who took advantage of the funds were associated with positive changes in employment and income. This in turn led to a positive association with their service member's continuation in the military.

At least 34 percent of scholarship recipients were known to complete their educational program in the three year window allotted. However, this number may be larger due to school completion reporting methods.

MOAA has long been a champion of MyCAA since its inception in 2009. The program was originally offered to spouses of all ranks. However, with unexpected high numbers of participation, the program ran out of money and was restructured in 2010, restricting access to and limiting the scope of the scholarship. The MyCAA scholarship is currently available to spouses of servicemembers who are E-1 to E-5, W-1 and W-2, and O1 to O2, and provides up to $4,000 of financial assistance for associate's degrees and occupational certifications/licenses.

Since the program's restructuring, MOAA has voiced our position that the scholarship should be open to all ranks and should be applicable to undergraduate and graduate degrees. MOAA has also written to members of Congress to ensure the scholarship funds are used for legitimate educational programs and not by unregulated or unaccredited industry predators.

The FY 2019 defense bill included a provision to improve the MyCAA program by creating a strategic approach to marketing and training installation career counselors on the program, and creating a mechanism for increased involvement.

With the success and effectiveness of the program, MOAA continues to advocate for expansion of MyCAA eligibility and degree options. It is vital to our nation's interests to open the MyCAA eligibility to all ranks, especially for critical need occupation areas such as nursing, transportation and childcare.,

To learn more about the MyCAA scholarship program, visit mycaa.militaryonesource.mil.