College Credit

College students are being inundated by credit card offers. Most students will receive, on average, somewhere between 40 and 60 credit card applications per year. Most will claim they are pre-approved and beg students to just sign on the dotted line and send it in.

A report by Nellie Mae, the student lender found:

• 76% of undergraduates had a credit card;
• Only 21% of college students with credit cards paid them off each month;
• The average balance on student credit cards was $2,169; and
• 25% of students owed $3000 or more.

Can you imagine? Starting life after college with your student loan debt is hard enough, but then to add to it by having to pay off credit card debt as well? Most students will sink under this kind of pressure, and rightfully so. The best thing you can do for your child is to sit them down before they start taking advantage of these offers and let them know how to handle credit wisely. If you do that, they might actually stand a chance of getting out of this with the shirt on their backs. ■