It?s no big surprise that major credit card companies are aiming their marketing campaigns towards our countries up and coming generation. To credit card companies, no consumer is more profitable than today?s college students.
Students are big business to them, and for good reasons. Why? Simple, teens like to spend money they don?t have! Were you poor when you left the house and took your first shot at the big University? Yeah, so was I. In fact the majority of today?s college students live off of loans and a minimum wage job, leaving them very little to spend on merchandise. This is where the credit card companies make their killing. Instead of saving up for that cute pink shirt on the clearance rack, or that shiny new watch, students can charge it to the new ?low? APR student card they just received in the mail. In fact, by opening up credit card booths Nationwide, credit card companies are making it easier than ever for students to get their feet wet.
So in answer to the topic question: yes, students are most definitely getting in over their head when it comes to credit and debt management. If your part of the younger generation you may recall getting your very first shiny gold/platinum card in the mail. Do you remember skipping all the fine print mumbo jumbo? Well, most students today are in the same boat. The only thing we cared about is that little line at the bottom that tells us how much we can spend: our line of credit. The fact is, Most ?Student? credit cards come with a ridiculously high APR and crippling late fee charges, which in most cases, cause the APR to soar even higher!
This may seem a little redundant and obvious to you and I, but to students the phrases ?APR?, ?late fees? and ?interest rates? aren?t an established part of their vocabulary yet. This is where things get sticky. The statistics don?t lie, and research has it that nearly 11 percent of people who seek credit counseling are under the age of 24. According to Colorado Public Interest Research Group, 49 percent of Colorado\’s college students have more than one credit card, which is higher than the national average of 37%!
The solution should be obvious. Students should be taught about credit and debt management. In fact, most students don?t even know that free nonprofit credit counseling agencies are at their disposal, nationwide. Counseling can help make budgets or stop students from sinking further in debt. They also re-teach young students the ?value? of the dollar bill, a concept slowly diminishing in our day and age. It?s obvious credit card companies care very little about this. The more we don?t know, the more they make.
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Adam Boulton is currently enrolled as a full-time student and has seen first hand the damages student credit cards can cause. If you would like more info about the pros and cons of student credit cards please visit his website at StudentResourceCenter.com |
Writen By : Adam Boulton