Your son or daughter will be leaving for college soon, and it's just hit you how much you'll be paying out of pocket for tuition, room and board, and other college-related expenses. How can you pay high college bills—without piling debt onto the kid you love? You...
Many parents have only one strategy for lowering college costs. Send the kid to the local state university. But is your local state university actually your bargain option—considering all the factors involved? The hidden costs of state university nobody talks about At...
Every year, millions of high school students are fed this line: "Hey, you should take Advanced Placement (AP) classes! They're way harder, but if you do well on the test at the end, you'll get free college credit!" It sounds like a great deal. But is it actually true?...
Parent, might you be ready for a job change by the end of this summer? If you make this job change decision strategically, you could save your kid $40,000 on college costs. "Really? How could my job change save my kids money on college costs?" Many colleges and...
Parents, you feel a lot of pressure to get your kids into a "good" college after high school. An "Ivy League" university would be ideal! But is all the work and stress really worth it? Probably not, honestly. William Deresiewicz, former Yale professor and author of...
A 10th grader writes to tell me that his parents are worried that if he takes dual enrollment college classes in high school, he might be prevented from having "the full high school experience." Here's his email to me: "Jeannie, I know you strongly recommend dual...
Your kid's in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade? It's time to set him or her free to feel jazzed and excited about college. Plus -- as a parent-- learn 8 things you can do right now to keep that kid's future college costs low. I'll be covering all this in this free live...
Your 12th grader is in tears, desperate for you to give him the go-ahead to attend an elite university that’ll cost him $950 per month for 10 years after college. You want him to be happy. Do you say yes? Before you respond, you’ll need to be clear on the answer to...
Most college students would love to earn significant money while home on a December college break. Tell the students you care about—UPS may be the place to apply (for more reasons than just the paycheck). What does UPS provide in addition to a paycheck? A lot. 1....
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 --...
I know, I know. You have a lot of people telling you that the local state university is your kid's bargain basement choice. Well... Unless your child is able to become a part of the honors program at that state university, this is not likely to be true. For the...
Hillary Clinton caused an unexpected dustup recently when she tweeted on August 12th: "How does your student loan debt make you feel? Tell us in 3 emojis or less." The angry responses from students and others were blistering. My personal favorite response to this...
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...
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...
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...
What are the chances that you could get your high schooler excited about saving in a Roth IRA? Better than you think—if you refuse to do it the old-fashioned way, using lectures and deprivation and drudgery. This post is designed to help you inspire your child to...
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...
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...
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...
The dad waited in a long line to get to shake my hand. He was beaming. "We squeezed into a packed high school auditorium to hear you speak about scholarships last year," he told me. "You inspired my son to go home and apply for 20 scholarships he thought he'd never...
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.