Today I have a big announcement to make! And a quick favor to ask. First, an exciting update For the last year, I've been on a beeline to having my book LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward out in December of...
Parents, if your child is in 10th grade right now, you have just a matter of days or hours left to do this very important thing. Note to my email newsletter subscribers: Did you not receive an email newsletter from me on Monday, December 28? On that date gmail...
Two weeks ago on this blog I talked about what I do to get high school and college students excited about applying for college scholarships. (That post included a great list of excellent scholarships students can apply for, so if you missed that one—be sure to go back...
A few months ago I posed the question: "Could your child end up wealthier and happier by not going to college?" This question has sparked a national conversation that's helping many students choose good-fitting, well-paying, minimal debt career paths they might not...
A massive number of parents have read my free PDF "12 Ways to Save $10,000 on College." This was heroic on their part, because it was little more than a Word document with a nice letterhead at the top. Now this free PDF has been made into a full color e-book --...
About a month ago I filled a room to overflowing with teens and parents eager to learn how to write a scholarship application essay that would "Make Them Say WOW." 17-year-old boys ran around setting up more tables for me, even though it meant that their long legs had...
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post for parents who erroneously believe that if they'll just refuse to put their financial info on their child's FAFSA form, their child will get additional financial aid for college. Student, if your parents are refusing to help...
Want a shortcut to getting your kid through college debt-free? If one of these colleges is a good fit for your son or daughter, you may have just struck gold. The 11 colleges and universities below are known for lavishing astounding amounts of financial aid and...
"We need to see you right away," the anxious mom told me on the phone, her voice shaking. "Our son is $40,000 in debt from a history degree he's not going to complete, and now he's changing his major to music performance. At this rate it's going to take him seven...
I know that your child has barely started high school, and I know that his dorm move-in day is three whole years away. I know it might seem like the last thing you need to be thinking about right now is college, but this is not true. Because of changes to the college...
You may want to start reducing your family income right away. Now. Today. Read on and I'll explain why. On January 1, 2016, a photographer is going to show up at your house. Not an actual photographer, but that's a good way to think of it. On January 1, 2016, the...
As a parent, you're hoping that your kid gets maximum financial aid to help pay for college. Well . . . the timing on how parents apply for financial aid changed radically with an announcement by President Obama on September 13th, 2015. The date to submit the FAFSA...
Parents nationwide are worried about how standardized tests for college entrance are changing. If your child is taking the PSAT exam this coming October 14th, you may be wondering how it will be different from the old PSAT, and what your child should be doing in order...
Imagine your high school age son up late at night, in his bedroom with his desk light burning, reading a book on software design or motivating employees or robotics engineering or building construction or funding service-oriented nonprofits -- just because he's...
Today I'm featuring a great "Sheldon" comic that I think everyone should read. To see the entire comic, click here: http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/150915.html To read and enjoy more wonderful Sheldon comics, click here. To find out how you can help your 15 -...
Do you ever worry that you might have slipped over the edge from "helping" to "enabling" your teen? Today I'm featuring a post by Susie Garlick, a mother three who's also an author, a parenting teacher, and a Licensed Associate Counselor in the State of Arizona....
Note to parents: The September 13th, 2015 announcement by President Obama which I blogged about here has made this post obsolete. Parents of students who are in 11th grade during the 2015-2016 school year are no longer able to take advantage of the strategies...
13-year-old Chicago resident Michael wanted to become a millionaire, but he didn't want to work 86 years at the Illinois minimum wage in order to get there. How could this middle schooler accomplish his goal without turning to crime or workaholism? This inspiring...
You're a loving parent—so of course you want to make your kid's future college breaks as warm and memorable as possible. But will you be able to do that if your newly-flown offspring comes home snarly and inconsiderate? What if your newly-minted college student...
“Why the big emphasis on avoiding student debt?” some parents and school administrators wonder. “Everyone gets student loans, don’t they? That’s what my guidance counselor told me when I was in high school. Isn’t that just the way it is?” Is that just the way it...
About a month ago I wrote about how some students could end up wealthier and happier by not going to four-year college after high school. It was a life-changing post for many. If you missed it, be sure to read it here. Today's huge news is that starting next year,...
Years ago, a hardworking college student could earn enough money in a summer of life-guarding or burger flipping to pay for one year of college tuition. If she continued to work for wages for as many hours as possible during the school year, lived in a tiny apartment...
The answer? As long as your child meets the LinkedIn.com minimum age limit of 14, it’s absolutely true. Your child needs one place to keep track of all of her accomplishments, achievements, work experiences, school and scouting awards, scholarship awards, job...
Today I'm featuring a 16 minute TEDx talk on student loan debt by Adam Carroll. This is a must-listen for every parent. Listen while you're getting ready for work in the morning, commuting, or cooking dinner. It'll change everything you've ever believed about...
Your son or daughter has started looking at colleges, and at this point the discussion is pretty much centered around how pretty the buildings are, what kind of sports they have, and "the quality of the business program." But are there even more important questions...
Would you like your child to have a Harvard education, but without the nerve-wracking admissions pressure or astronomical tuition cost? If this sounds good to you, you might seriously consider the Bachelor of Liberal Arts (ALB) degree at the Harvard Extension School...
Parents nationwide are worried about how standardized tests for college entrance are changing. If your child is taking the PSAT exam this coming October 14th, you may be wondering how it will be different from the old PSAT, and what your child should be doing in order...
Every day since your child was a toddler, she’s been bumping into and forming relationships with professional people who have careers in every sector of the job market. Do you realize this? Your daughter may have met a software engineer at a technology company when...
A week ago I asked parents to imagine a 19-year-old girl walking into an enormous 10-story library, choosing four books at random, and then walking up to the checkout desk and paying $25,000 for the chance to check them out. A week ago we talked about how this sounds...
Community colleges tend to be a GREAT bargain for students. (Do you wonder what gives me the credential to say that? Click here.) But what about 4-year state universities? Are they smart choices for students who want to keep college costs low? At first glance the...
Imagine your 19-year-old daughter walking into an enormous 10-story library. She chooses four books at random, and then walks up to the checkout desk and pays $25,000 for the chance to check them out. It sounds unthinkable, but this is the exact method many students...
Wouldn't it be great if your child age 13–22 would apply for 10 different scholarships before starting school this coming fall? Yep, that's what I said. Kids age 13–22. Ten different scholarships each summer. It's a myth that students should only apply for college...
In recent months I've been reimagining everything I do when it comes to helping parents and students. Like a determined mom cleaning out a closet, a purse, or an office desk, I dumped everything I had been doing professionally out onto the floor. "If I had a chance...
There are many students who should not be attending four-year colleges and universities. Why? Because these students are desperately needed in well-paying jobs that require more specialized kinds of training than four-year colleges can provide. Read on, and I'll help...
Have you ever told your kids or teens that they’re “smart?” Would you be surprised to learn that you should strike the word “smart” from your vocabulary? To explain why, I'm turning to my friend Toni Schutta M.A. L.P. as my guest blogger for today. Toni is an...
Imagine your 7th grader earning real transferable college credit for the knowledge she just gained in her middle school history class. Are you astounded that this is possible? Students of all ages can turn their regular school learning into real college credit in 33...
Researchers tell us that the brains of middle schoolers are growing at an explosive rate, faster than at any time since infancy. New connections are being formed, less-used pathways in the brain are being pruned away, and new experiences are imprinting deeply, in...
Are you a parent wondering if student loan debt is really that big a deal? Watch this powerful, entertaining video by Adam Carroll at TEDx UWMilwaukee. It'll be the best 15 minutes you'll spend on your kid this year.
You and your 10th grader are researching colleges, and all at once you're both about to jump out of your chairs. You've found a college that sounds absolutely perfect. There's only one problem. It's out-of-state and so extra expensive. This college is a fantastic...
Many parents mistakenly believe that if their children will just become highly paid professionals, such as doctors or a lawyers, “they’ll be able to easily pay back their student loan debt.” Is this true? No — it’s not true. Increasingly, even highly paid medical...
Every year I have parents tell me: "I'm not letting my kid apply THERE. Do you have any idea how much that school costs?!?!" OK: let's all just calm down a minute. I know what the elite school sticker price appears to be, but I also know this: that sometimes, the...
You know that it’s a good idea to start early to save for your kids’ college, but what if your budget just doesn’t allow for that right now? Are there other things you can do so that you’re ready when dormitory move-in day comes? Yes. This week I’m hugely honored to...
A devastating earthquake slammed into Nepal on Saturday, killing over 4,000 people. That's hard to wrap your head around I know. It's such devastation, it's such tragedy -- it's overwhelming. We want to close our eyes. We want to look the other way. We want to...
Imagine your child writing a scholarship application essay where she writes in detail about what it was like to have a Japanese college student living in her home for three weeks. There are so many interesting ways to go with this kind of material -- I can't even...
When I was a child, my mother said to me: "Jeannie, do you know why many old people have barely enough to get by, but Grandma and Grandpa have enough money to take nice trips? It's because Grandma reuses her aluminum foil." I laughed at the time, but it was true....
My classes cost only $39 each, but that's still unaffordable for some families. Families who desperately need help getting their kids through college debt-free. Here's help. Families with documented financial need can get reduced rates on my classes. But they have...
Your 12th grader hasn't yet figured out "what he wants to do with his life," and it's making you nervous. You absolutely don't want him living in your basement next year—partially for fear he'll turn into one of those 20-something kids floundering through their 20s...
Your teen's schedule is already filled to bursting with sports practices, homework for advanced classes, and—of course—enrichment activities that will supposedly "make her look good on college applications." Your family has plenty of money to provide this girl...
Hi, I’m Jeannie Burlowski.
I am a full-time academic strategist, conference speaker, and author of the book “LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt-Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward.”
My writing and speaking provide parents a clear, step-by-step checklist so they can set their kids up to succeed brilliantly in college, graduate debt-free, and move directly into careers they excel at and love.
For more than 20 years, I’ve helped students apply to highly competitive law, medical, business, and grad schools. I still do that from my website GetIntoMedSchool.com.
I am married, and my husband and I have a son and a daughter. We live in Minneapolis.