This article contains a specific solution to the deeply concerning problem of regret over 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 this? 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, alarmingly high number.
More than 1/3 of adults wish they’d studied in a different field.
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 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.
About now, you’re probably asking yourself:
“Why weren’t these students given better, more specific help before they chose their college majors? Why were they forced to guess at something so important?”
This is an extremely important question.
Before I direct you to specific answers and solutions that’ll help the kids you love—let’s look closely at who’s most affected by higher ed regret.
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!
In particular, if we look at those with just “some college,” we have to wonder, did they quit college—did they give up on college—because they found themselves slogging through college courses with no clear idea of why they were taking them?
This is deeply worrisome—especially because college completion is strongly correlated with financial security throughout life.
According to the official U.S. government research you can find here, “Men with bachelor’s degrees earn approximately $900,000 more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates. Women with bachelor’s degrees earn $630,000 more. Men with graduate degrees earn $1.5 million more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates. Women with graduate degrees earn $1.1 million more.
That is a huge chunk of change! College—or other job training—provides massive advantage for your kids.
Just picture your kids investing some of this extra money—taking advantage of the breathtaking benefits of compound interest. Imagine your kids growing their extra money to the point that they can not only take care of themselves and their families for decades—but give generously to causes they care about as well. Read what I’ve written about compound interest here. Einstein called compound interest “the 8th wonder of the world”!
Your family can learn a simple way to get started on investing by reading this well-loved book by J.L. Collins. (College students tell me they love this book.)
So—big question! How can we help kids make higher ed decisions that’ll lead to a lifetime of job and life satisfaction?
I’ve been a professional academic strategist for 25 years, and here’s my emphatic answer:
Students need three high quality, gold standard career assessments in 10th grade—or as soon as possible after that. I’ll explain below exactly where to find them.
Quality career assessing—done early on—will help the kid you love to zoom like an arrow straight to a career bullseye. Not one wasted dollar, not one wasted class. Not one wasted, regret-filled career year.
Genius.
You cannot count on the career assessments given at the high school to help with this.
The lightweight “career quizzes” offered at high schools—those that are not administered and interpreted by certified professionals— are notoriously inaccurate, and therefore not recommended for serious career clarification.
Just ask any kid who is obviously gifted in science and math, and was told by a high school career quiz that they should be “a lumberjack—or a bartender.”
This is disheartening and discouraging, and high school students tell me it happens all the time.
If you’re going to get necessary career planning help for your child, you’re going to have to find it outside the high school system.
So—where do you go to get highest quality career assessing for your kid? You sure don’t want to pay a private counselor $5000.00 to do it!
Thinking through options, your next thought might be, “Well—surely the college is going to help us with career planning—right?”
Parents, you need to be clear on this. Most colleges provide zero career direction help for first year students deciding what classes to take or what majors to pursue.
Plus, by the time your daughter reaches age 18, she may be enrolled at a college that doesn’t even have the program that prepares her for the career she finally decides she might like to do someday.
You can’t depend on the college to help with early career assessing.
If you’re parenting a kid ages 15+, you need clear teaching on this subject.
I provide the clear help you need in this 3-session online class. This class retails for $895.00, but if you join my TRIBE the next time the doors open, you’ll get this class for free.
Don’t miss it—this deal only comes around twice a year. The class description is here.
Here’s what one boy told me after he took the three career assessments I recommend in the class above:
“The lady doing the three gold standard career assessments for me told me, ‘The goal we’ve figured out here is a spectacular good fit for you. It’ll take a complicated college path to get there—but you absolutely have what it takes to do this.’ Later on when things got hard, I kept thinking about that.
Now that I’ve graduated from college and have a well-paying job right in that field, I can tell you—I’m so glad I did these career assessments EARLY. It meant that every college class I took got me closer to my goal.”
You want this kind of advantage for the kids you love. Nothing less.
I’ve been a professional academic strategist for 25 years, and I’m convinced 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’m Jeannie Burlowski. I’m the instructor for this online class and the author of this book:
Important—> It’s a reference book, so nobody reads the whole thing cover to cover. Pick out what you need to read 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.
This article was written by a caring human expert. AI tools may have assisted with research or editing.
This article was updated on February 24th, 2026.