College Students and Credit Cards

Students and their . I think that statement alone makes every parent cringe. Every college student that I knew during my college days had a credit card and knew how to use it. How else do you get by? Sure, you might work part-time, but at minimum wage that doesn’t get you very far. There’s always more pizza to order and more bars to hit.

“The average senior who graduated in 2008 had more than $4,100 in credit card debt, up almost 45 percent from 2004,” Gov Pat Quinn of Chicago said on Tuesday when he signed a new credit card law.

Under the law that becomes effective Jan. 1, credit card companies won't be able to give out T-shirts, gift cards or other freebies to entice students to sign up. Also, any Illinois college or university that signs a deal agreeing to market credit cards to students must provide financial education so students understand the consequences of using credit cards, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Of course, the credit card companies hate this new legislation and did everything they could to oppose. At the time the Tribune printed the article, American Express and Mastercard had not returned any calls. It’s not surprising. Credit card companies often remind me of the tobacco industry. Perhaps they work in cahoots behind the scenes, scheming up how they’re going to get their customers while they’re young.

The Tribune article goes on to talk about a sophomore who has maxed out her $5,000 credit card twice, paying off each time. It’s easy to be persuaded by credit card companies when they show up to campus with their school spirit, their special-just-for-students credit card with their school colors and mascot, and their free stuff. I mean, for a freshman who has never lived on their own or ventured out into the real world, this looks like free money!

When it’s Welcome to Campus Day, or Club Day, there are the credit card companies, lined up with the rest of the school clubs trying to get your attention with flashier set-ups. Then they get the kids with their low-interest-while-your-a-student plans, which only entices kids to spend more and pay the minimum so by the time they’re out of school they’re in debt thousands of dollars.

Thanks to the new law, the credit card companies and their freebies will be no longer. It’ll be sad to walk down the main campus and not see your friends from Mastercard sitting there with smiles. The best part of the new law is the financial education that students must go through if the campus decides to let credit card companies market on campus. Teaching the kids about what a credit card really is, and how to budget their lives while in college is a remarkable idea that probably should be a mandatory class for every freshman.

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