Transitioning from Navy to 4-year university

Most of us squids and ex-squids have something in common - we know absolutely nothing about college that we didn't see in some sort of movie. When we near the end of our obligatory contracts with the US government we face three career moves:

1) Re-enlist: it's as easy as saying the word "ok" and signing something.
2) Getting a civilian job: not nearly as easy but some DOD contractors will hire pretty easily, and head hunters can be of particularly good use here.
3) Going away to college: community college is pretty easy to figure out, but the transition to a university can be tricky.

Trying to make career decisions when the information you have about one option far outweighs the others is dangerous, and I feel they lead to many re-enlistments that aren't benificial to the sailor OR the Navy. I did decide my best career move was to make that transition from sailor to student, so I thought I would share some tips/words of advice about university life and on how to make that transition (my grand hope is to help off-set the information imbalance between re-enlisting and the other career options).

1) There is more money available than just the GI Bill/NCF. There is a system within the US education system that addresses "need based financial aid" (info at www.fafsa.ed.gov). Your parents stopped claiming you on taxes years ago, so you don't have to claim your parents income on student financial aid forms. The GI Bill and College Fund are not taxable income, meaning that you come across as flat-ass broke to the government financial aid system. As a result, you are guarenteed to qualify for an extra $2000.00 or so PER SEMESTER of money you never have to give back via Pell Grants.

2) Most colleges and universities have a veterans administration office. This person (or office)can very easily contacted through the university's website (example here http://www.umd.umich.edu/rr_va/).

3) The SAT/ACT you took in high school could still be valid (each school will have a different policy). Generally speaking, if your SAT/ACT or high school GPA is too low for the school of your choice, 2 years of community college will "erase" your high school grades from consideration.

Well, considering this is my first post and I'm getting tired I'm going to stop at three things for now. I'll post more about this subject later.