The Army is dramatically scaling back one of its most generous education benefits, the Credentialing Assistance program known as Army CA, in a bid to rein in costs that could be one of the most consequential shifts in soldiers' benefits in years.
Introduced force-wide in 2020, Army CA was hailed as a groundbreaking complement to traditional scholarship programs and offers soldiers $4,000 annually to pursue civilian credentials in fields like cybersecurity, coding, personal training and commercial driving. The credentials were designed to bolster both military careers and civilian transitions.
But now, the Army said it is slashing the benefit in half, reducing it to $2,000 annually -- a move that could feel even more painful given the rampant inflation since the program's launch and swiftly rising costs for education.
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The benefit cap will also be reduced to one credentialing course per year, and no more than three courses in a decade. While recertifications won't count toward the annual course limit, they will still be deducted from the overall financial cap, service officials with direct knowledge explained.
"The changes we are making to these programs will help ensure their long-term sustainability," Dr. Agnes Gereben Schaefer, the assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs, told Military.com in a statement.
Finally, officers will no longer be eligible. Some Army officials with direct knowledge of the planning said those cohorts of troops are already beneficiaries of numerous education opportunities and, when adjusting the program for it to make financial sense, enlisted troops have by far the most difficulty transitioning into civilian careers after service and thus would benefit the most.
Officers and warrants made up 20% of the 27,000 Army CA users this year, according to data provided by the service.
Since its launch four years ago, more than 64,000 soldiers have taken advantage of Army Credentialing Assistance. Its popularity has surged dramatically, with costs soaring from $31 million in 2021 to $70 million this year.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, when asked about potential cuts by lawmakers in April after Military.com's reporting, characterized the program as a "catastrophic success," referring to concerns that it was so popular its use blew past what the Army was budgeting to spend on benefits, and that the program was effectively unlimited and without the guardrails most incentives have.
Meanwhile, the Army is boosting the funds for annual tuition assistance, which is more for traditional college, from $4,000 to $4,500, bringing it to parity with what other services pay for. The Army spends about $230 million each year on that benefit. Tuition Assistance is separate from the GI Bill, which is a benefit managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs and is unaffected and would require an act of Congress to change.
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