Military spouses upset by halt of tuition-help program

VIRGINIA BEACH

When the Defense Department suddenly halted a popular tuition-assistance plan for military spouses on Feb. 16, most beneficiaries learned about it from each other.

Some swapped e-mails, saw notes on Facebook, read news accounts or called each other.

Amber Jacobi had just given birth and was in the hospital when her friend told her.

“None of you found out about it until after it had been done?” U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye asked Sunday, eliciting a chorus of voices from the crowded conference room in his Virginia Beach office.

The Defense Department announced a temporary halt to the Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts operations with a notice on its Web site that said it was to be reviewed.

That left the people who had been counting on the tuition money without a payment for registered classes. Some are now worried their previous work will be tossed if they try to return a semester or two later, or worse, after their spouses are transferred to another part of the country.

Jacobi, now on maternity leave from her job, doesn’t have a way to raise the more than $1,000 for tuition that had been approved from the MyCAA program. She is scheduled to graduate in January.

“The difference of one class for me is everything,” she said. “The ability to take my career with me when we transfer.”

The MyCAA program launched in March 2009, and more than 136,000 military spouses applied. About 98,000 are enrolled in courses or have been approved for tuition assistance.

Nye said he found out about the sudden stop from a pair of spouses during an event at Oceana Naval Air Station on Feb. 20.

He sent a letter to the defense secretary asking for an explanation. The next day, a statement was issued saying only that the program was suspended because of a sharp increase in applications.

“This should have been handled so much differently,” said Alison Messick of Chesapeake. “This isn’t just a spouse thing, this is a military issue.”

Melissa Hebert of Virginia Beach is working to become a teacher.

“When this program came along, I thought this was my time,” she told Nye.

She learned the program was stopped by watching the news. When she called MyCAA for more information, the program counselor asked her, “Ma’am, what does putting off one class mean?”

For her, it means she won’t get a job for at least a year.

“If I can’t student-teach, I can’t get a job,” Hebert said.

“Like most of us, if we stop now, we’ve wasted money and our time.”

Overall, the nearly 30 military spouses who crowded into Nye’s meeting said it was the lack of notification, explanation and consideration that made the decision inexcusable. They frequently described it as a slap in the face.

“If they can’t accept new applications, OK,” Hebert said. “But you stopped in the middle.”

Nye said that he will continue to question the decision until he gets answers. He also said he was going to work with other members of Congress to elicit a response.

He asked that others who are affected by the program’s halt contact his office at (757) 326-6201.

“We’re not going to let this go,” he told the group. “I will put other stuff on hold for this.”