Issue date: 4/16/09
As
the spring semester ends, students look back at what they've
accomplished over the months, either with a sigh of relief or a groan
of disappointment over their efforts.
For some, their unwise decisions will also negatively affect their wallets.
Two
thirds of college students have at least one credit card, according to
a recent survey done by U.S. Public Interest Research Groups.
Of
these, two thirds said they paid their monthly balances in full. The
rest of the cardholders said they had a balance sitting there yet to be
paid, according to the McClathy Washington Bureau.
In credit
card company and bank lingo, the amount left on a card the cardholder
has yet to pay at the end of a billing cycle is called a previous
outstanding balance. However, the rest of us usually refer to it as
debt, especially when it rises exponentially at every consecutive
payment due date.
Student credit card debtors have an average
balance of $452 due on their cards at the end of the month, according
to a 2008 study by market research firm Student Monitor. This number
fell from the previous year.
Many students enter college without experience with credit, so they become perfect targets for card marketers.
Tables
are set up in strategic places around campus, with gifts such as
T-shirts, mugs and even iPods to offer potential customers.
Some are drawn in by such incentives and decide to sign up for a card.
Kong
Chang, a 25-year-old auto mechanics major, said credit card companies
operate by making money off people who don't know how to manage it.
At
Cosumnes River College, some students pay tuition using credit cards
instead of conventional checks or debit cards, said Katie Deleon, a
supervisor of Business Services on campus.
Chang is waiting for his financial aid reimbursement check to pay off the debt he accumulated on his card from buying textbooks.
Recently,
student chapters of U.S. Public Research Group at various colleges
began a campaign to educate students about credit and put more pressure
on marketing firms that target college students.
Students find themselves using their credit cards not only for food and iPods, but also to help pay for tuition and textbooks.
Experience with credit debt comes at different times in life for different people.
While
some seek to find a way to regulate and limit the marketing directed at
inexperienced college students, some look deeper into the structure of
the national financial system.
Irish Paul, a 21-year-old music major supports abolishing the financial system that lends people money.
"The
problem isn't really in the credit system inherent in that. The problem
is built in the monetary system that we have right now," said Paul.
Debt is still a problem plaguing many people today, and students who get credit cards become part of the statistic.
