2 Steps for Furthering Your Education

Editor’s note: This post is sponsored by Career Step.

It’s an age-old dilemma. You need to earn more money, but to do that you need to get a better job. In order to get a better job, you need to go back to school. But to go back to school, you need to be able to pay for tuition. In order to pay tuition, you need to earn more money.

So how do you overcome this particular dilemma?

Here are two ways that can help:

Choose a Program

The first step is to evaluate what kind of education you need. It’s important to start with your end goal because the best solution might not be what you’d expect. Is your top priority job security? You can get into one of many in-demand fields quickly with the right certification. The same is true if your goal is to work from home or to have a flexible schedule. Going back to school may not mean getting a two- or four-year degree from a college or university.

The next question is what type of school schedule works with your lifestyle. If you’re trying to continue your current career while also working, you may want consider online educational programs. Online courses give you the flexibility of completing coursework on your own schedule from wherever works for you.

Many colleges and universities offer online degrees on a traditional semester schedule. Career training programs like Career Step take online flexibility to the next level by letting you begin classes at any time and work at the pace that’s best for you. Best of all, these programs often take less time to complete than a traditional degree, meaning you can begin your new career in as little as three months.

Figure Out Finances

Once you’ve decided which school and program to pursue, it’s time to look at funding. There are a number of resources to help military members and their spouses pay for education. Here are details on a few:

  • MyCAA: The MyCAA program provides $4,000 for eligible military spouses (those whose service members are of the ranks: E1-E5, W1-W2, and O1-o2) to receive career skills training. Some programs, like Career Step, are 100% covered by MyCAA, meaning you could receive an education in growing fields like medical coding or pharmacy technician for free.
  • Military-focused scholarships: There are a number of scholarships available specifically for military service members and veterans as well as their family members. For instance, Career Step offers a full-tuition scholarship each quarter to a military spouse who registers with the National Military Family Association (NMFA). You can also search online scholarship tools like fastweb.com or military support organizations like NMFA to find other scholarship options.
  • Military tuition discounts: Many institutions offer tuition discounts for military service members and their dependents, so it’s worth asking your school of choice about available options. At the very least, public colleges and universities will often offer in-state tuition for military members regardless of your residency.

 

As you’re considering education options, be sure to look at Career Step. They’ve trained more than 15,000 military service members and spouses for careers in health care, administrative services, and technology. Learn more about Career Step’s online certificate programs at CareerStep.com/military-spouse.

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Retired Expert

Retired Expert

Army Wife Network is blessed with many military-focused people and organizations that share their journey through writing in our expert blogger category. As new projects come in, their focus must occasionally shift closer to their organization and expertise. Their content and contributions are still valued and resourceful. Those posts are reassigned under "Retired Experts" in order to allow them to remain available as content for our AWN fans.

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