Your student loan grace period is a set amount of time after you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment, but before you must begin repayment on your loan. The grace period gives you time to get financially settled and to select your repayment plan. Not all federal student loans have a grace period. Note that for many loans, interest will accrue during your grace period.

Here are three things you can do during your grace period to prepare for repayment:

Over the next few months, many students who graduated or left school in the spring of 2012 will reach the end of their grace period and start repaying their student loans. Now is a great time to brush up on the basics of student loans.

Financial aid comes in many forms. Grants and scholarships are often called “gift aid” because they don’t have to be repaid. Another form of financial aid is work-study.  Federal Work-Study provides part-time jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses.

Prediction # 3: The range of programs and teaching channels for universities will increase to include more offline and professional programs as well as auxiliary services.

We hear a great deal about endangered programs. Philosophy, history and language programs are shutting down due to the lack of students and financial resources. In contrast, I believe that universities will actually offer more, not fewer, services and programs, in more teaching formats, length and channels in the future. Universities will strive to find additional revenue sources. Executive training programs will be just one of many examples. Colleges will want to build a continued relationship with alumni exceeding current alumni fundraising focused activities.

Two young men, from different backgrounds, each tell a tragically similar story of their mistakes, which resulted in felony convictions and incarcerations. Their names aren’t important, but their stories are.

Both men are using education to take charge of their futures and be productive citizens.

There is no doubt in my mind that the job market is tough overall and even tougher for newly transitioning veterans. You would be hard pressed not to find blog after blog and LinkedIn post after post that identifies the reasons why the market is so tough for our Nation’s Heroes. There is no shortage of people identifying what the Government can do or what companies can do to help our veterans.

Are you thinking about a career in Education? Teaching can be a rewarding second career and a great way to use your military skills and expertise to help others. And there are programs and resources available to help you take the necessary steps toward a second career in Education. Teaching can also be an excellent portable career for military spouses.

Once you’ve found a government job you’re interested in (see Part 1: How Do I Find Government Jobs?), you need to understand the federal job announcements to be sure you are qualified for the job and to successfully apply for the position.

Traditionally it was employers who had to make themselves visible when looking to fill vacancies – posting adverts in the press, then choosing a pool of candidates from a veritable tsunami of applicants. But not any more.

There’s mounting evidence that personnel specialists are now scouring social media sites and job boards for potential employees.