Tuition aid will return for spouses of soldiers

WASHINGTON — A high-ranking defense official signaled Wednesday that a suspended tuition assistance program for military spouses will return, following a flood of complaints from lawmakers.

Defense Undersecretary Clifford L. Stanley, in charge of personnel programs, told a Senate subcommittee that defense officials are addressing the short-term and long-term budget needs of the tuition program, called Military Career Advancement Accounts, though he gave no indication when it may be reinstated.

"I'm very optimistic about it working out OK," Mr. Stanley told the panel at a hearing on military personnel programs for the budget year beginning Oct. 1.

The Defense Department suspended the program on Feb. 16 with no advance notice, leaving in limbo those spouses who were in the process of applying. More than 60 members of Congress, including Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, have complained to the Defense Department about the sudden action.

Lawmakers' offices say the program's popularity was its downfall. An annual budget of $1 billion proved inadequate, they said, when enrollments suddenly spiked in January and February.

A total of 98,000 spouses have been approved, out of 136,000 who have applied, the Defense Department reported.

A spokesman for Mr. Owens, Sean Magers, said the program's supporters in Congress are prepared to fund the program at whatever level needed to keep it going.

Mr. Owens is among lawmakers who have written to the Defense Department in support of the program.

At Wednesday's hearing, Sen. Kay Hagan, R-N.C., said the uncertainty about the program has hurt morale and "has certainly had a negative impact on family readiness."

She asked Mr. Stanley if perhaps his department needs more specialists to run the program.

But Mr. Stanley, only a few weeks into his job, had few such details to share.

"I was sworn in on the 16th, and I learned about it on the 16th," Mr. Stanley said.