This article contains specific instruction on where to go to help kids ages 15+ make highest quality higher ed decisions.
The last thing you want is for your child to make a series of expensive higher ed decisions, and then regret them later. How can you help your kids avoid making regrettable higher ed decisions? I’m helping with that today.
An epidemic of regret
Regret over higher ed decisions has reached epidemic proportions in the United States.
According to a report from Gallup and Strada Education Network, a whopping 51 percent of Americans would change at least one of their education decisions if they could. This is an astounding, alarming high number.
More than 1/3 of adults wish they’d studied in a different field.
About now you’re probably asking yourself:
“Why weren’t these people given better, more specific help before they chose their college majors? Why were they forced to guess at something so important?”
People with “some college” and those with bachelor’s degrees are most likely to regret their major choices.
A whopping 42% of students with “some college” and 40% of students with bachelor’s degrees reported feeling regret about what they studied.
Staggering!
But this doesn’t have to be the story for your kid. Read on and I’ll help.
Most shocking? How many people regret their liberal arts educations
According to the Gallup study, 48% of people with liberal arts degrees wished they’d made different higher ed decisions. Liberal arts education brings about the highest amount of regret.
This is astounding, considering that millions of high school counselors and teachers push high school students toward liberal arts degrees as though they’re the key to a happy, fulfilled career life.
It doesn’t have to be this way for your kid.
My 25 years of academic strategy experience show me—students can head off expensive higher ed regret by doing this one thing: having a qualified, certified professional administer and interpret three specific career assessments at age 15, or as soon as possible after that.
I don’t administer these myself, but I teach you exactly where to get them in session 2 of this 3-session class.
Don’t miss it.
(The price for this 3-session class is deeply discounted for my TRIBE Members.)
“Shouldn’t kids wait until they’re college seniors before doing career planning?”
Sure, these students could wait until college is nearly completed—they could even wait until middle age to take gold standard career assessments, and only then find out what they’re naturally good at and interested in, But why wait? The most strategic time to take these assessments is January of 10th grade, or as soon as possible after that. Doing this ensures that all higher ed decisions can be made by setting good-fit goals and then moving straight toward them—like an arrow straight to a bullseye—without one wasted dollar, without one wasted class.
Genius.
If you love a kid ages 12–26, you need deeper teaching on this subject. Get that teaching in this 3-session class, which is deeply discounted for my TRIBE Members. (The parent testimonials there will fill you with hope.)
“My kid already did some career assessments at the high school, and they weren’t helpful at all.”
This is exactly the problem. The lightweight “career inventories” offered at local high schools (that are not administered and interpreted by certified professionals) are notoriously inaccurate, and therefore not recommended for career clarification purposes.
Here’s what one boy told me after he took the three gold standard career assessments I recommend in this class:
“The lady doing the three career assessments for me told me, ‘This is going to be a really interesting, complicated path—but you absolutely have what it takes to do this.’ Later on, during college, when things got difficult (because things always get difficult, right?) I kept coming back to her words over and over again. This is a complicated path, but I absolutely have what it takes to do this. Now that I’m graduated from college and working at a well-paying job in my field, I’m so glad I did these career assessments as early as I could.”
You want this kind of advantage for the kids you love.
As an academic strategist, I’m convinced that this kind of career clarification work—done early on—is more valuable to students than Ivy League education, sports participation, expensive private education, enrichment activities, or anything else parents try to do to give their kids an edge in life.
I don’t administer these assessments myself.
I make sure that I personally make zero money from kids taking career assessments. I emphasize this career assessing so strongly only because I’m convinced it’s the best thing for the kids and the biggest possible money saver for the parents.
For more help getting your kids through college debt-free and regret-free—do this:
Once you’ve read the parent testimonials about my TRIBE Membership, get your copy of the book I wrote. There’s more detail you need in here:
Important—> It’s a reference book, so nobody reads the whole thing cover to cover. Pick out what you need to read in it using the fast-paced, 10-minute video instructions here.
You can see hundreds of reviews of this book on Amazon by going to:
Read just one chapter of LAUNCH every 1–3 months while your child’s in middle school and high school, and you’ll know every viable strategy for debt-free college at exactly the right time to implement it.
And if your child’s already well past middle school? That’s OK; you can run to catch up. But the process of getting your kids through college debt-free goes more smoothly the earlier you start—especially if you’re not planning to save up any money to pay for college.
Let's you and I walk together toward the goal of debt-free college for your kids.
We can accomplish this no matter your current income level—even if your kids never get a single scholarship.
Your first step is getting regularly scheduled, free helpful articles from me—right in your email inbox. Quick, sign up here.
Do you have very specific questions for me about debt-free college and career for your kids?
My TRIBE Members get the most direct access to me—while feeling good that the pennies per day they spend on the TRIBE help me bring debt-free college strategy to families who could never afford to pay for it. Join my TRIBE Membership waiting list here. (The parent testimonials you'll see there are so encouraging!)
Who is Jeannie Burlowski?
Jeannie is a full-time academic strategist, podcast host, and sought-after speaker for students ages 12–26, their parents, and the professionals who serve them. Her writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free, ready to jump directly into careers they excel at and love. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, Parents Magazine, and US News & World Report, as well as on CBS News.
Jeannie also helps students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school at her website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow her on Bluesky @jburlowski.bsky.social.
No part of this article was written using AI.
This article was updated on February 10th, 2026.