No bachelor's degrees for military spouses

Preparing for a lesser future:

The Department of Defense has reopened its program to help military spouses pay for school, but, as expected, fewer people will be eligible, and they'll get less money.

Under the new rules, the program will pay for course work for spouses of service members in lower pay grades only. It will only pay for associate's degrees, licensing and certification programs - no bachelor's or master's degrees.

This is so typical of the DoD. Raise hopes high and then dash them with new rules and cuts.

With those limits, the program is expected to cost $250 million in the coming fiscal year. Without the limits, defense officials estimate the program would have cost more than $1 billion.

That billion may seem like a lot of money, but in relative terms, it represents only one fourth of what the F-35's Extra Engine Program costs, which the DoD has been trying to scuttle for the last few years.

Here's our Freshman Senator:

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan has asked the military to reconsider its decision to limit access to the program. She said she sent a letter Wednesday to Defense Secretary Robert Gates saying, in part, "I do not believe the restructured MyCAA program is entirely consistent with the program's original intent."

Hagan urged Gates to restore the $6,000 cap and reopen the program to bachelor's and master's candidates.

Thank you, Kay.