by Theresa Michael

Created on: January 20, 2009

We have a phrase here in the military family community "If the family isn't happy the Solider/Sailor/Marine/Airman ain't re-enlisting." Probably most central to this is the spouse, who gives as much for their service member spouse as their service member does for the country. Usually that sacrifice involves their career goals or sometimes their educational goals. With the recent Post 9/11 GI Bill being passed, Congress has realized that they need to cater to more than just the service member, but also to the service member's family. Part of this was a provision that allows us, the military spouse, to obtain a degree in a portable career field. Prior to this spouses were able to apply for tuition assistance in the way of scholarships which usually only covered about 1/2 of the tuition for a single class. Between frequent moves, an ever increasing deployment schedule and the rapidly rising cost of getting a post-secondary education spouses were either stuck transferring from school to school with no end in sight and student loan debt piling up or just giving up any ideas of a post-secondary degree. Those who have been able to aquire a degree have found it difficult at best to have to change jobs every 3-4 years. The new spouses tuition assistance program has been outlined to work similar to the tuition assistance program that is currently in place for service members. We would still have to pay for our application fees, if applying to a school, and for our books but our classes would be covered. We would have to maintain a C in each class that was paid for by the tuition assistance program or else we would be required to re-pay the amount of assistance that we recieved. It would only be open to the spouses of active duty who are not legally seperated. This is what will make the difference in retention. Spouses will be able to get an education, if they choose, without driving their family into debt. This will encourage them to encourage their service member to stay military, at least for a few more years. This program is not only a rentention tool but a recruiting tool. If there is a young couple who is considering one of them signing up, an education opportunity for the non-military spouse may be the tipping point. This program is also a good thing to encourage among spouses while we are still in a state of war. A spouse with a post-secondary education will make an easier transition into the civilian world should something happen to their service member than one who has no degree or career field to fall back on. In the end, this program will have a significant impact on retention levels for the different services. I know that, as a spouse, I will be encouraging my husband to stay Navy for a few more years. After all I fall in the category of spouses who are chasing their degree around the world.

Learn more about this author, Theresa Michael.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.