looking past high school

If I had my way, every high school in the country would have a year-long class for juniors, devoted to studying college and career choices. What subject is more important for our juniors than planning their imminent futures while there is still time to make such choices consciously, and with some understanding of their many options?
I did pretty well in high school(class salutatorian), but, due to my total ignorance about college and careers, I ended up going to study forestry at Utah State University, only to find that I had no aptitude or much interest in science, and that the study of science was essential to a career in forestry. Instead, I had a romantic idea of occupying a ranger station somewhere in the mountains, with a dog and a jeep, watching for forest fires. My high school counselor, whom I saw for a grand total of about thirty minutes, recommended Utah State and Humboldt---then the top two forestry schools---after asking me what I wanted to do. I don't blame the counselor for my own ignorance, but I wish we had had enough time for her to ask me WHY I wanted to go into forestry, whether I understood the actual nature of the job, the course of study required, etc. It's not like there were no other choices: I had always wanted to be a lawyer, but somewhere in my junior or senior year of high school I lost track of that. I won't say that I wasted my two years at Utah State, nor do I have any regrets about the way life has worked out, but I sure would do things differently if I knew then what I know now. Wouldn't you?
Many affluent, well-educated families take their kids on a tour of college campuses in their junior or senior year, but most low-income families do not. If you didn't go to college yourself, it is unlikely that you can give much advice to your kids about choosing a college or a career path, except, perhaps, for the obvious adages. My parents, who fortunately were blessed with a healthy dose of practical intelligence, nevertheless had all of an eighth-grade Mexican education, so while they knew enough to encourage us to go to college(all three of us did), could hardly have advised us about compensation trends in various professions, admissions requirements for competitive colleges, fellowship options for graduate school, etc. My own kids will have better awareness of their choices than I did, but even then, I wish they could have at least taken a video tour of Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and the like, while they were juniors, so that they could make the necessary effort to have a fighting chance at admission before the choices narrowed(I know, I know, even the junior year is too late for THOSE choices, but you have to start somewhere!).
Who will pay for this class? That, of course, is the sixty-four million dollar question that can decimate any good idea. But I have a better question: who will pay the price of prison (or welfare) for kids who turn to crime because they see no other options?
I don't know how to get such a class started at a high school near me, but wouldn't I love to teach it?! I would have guest speakers from various careers, college admissions representatives, and actual and virtual tours of a wide range of colleges, and I wouldn't charge a penny for my time.