Student Credit Cards Focus of New Study

I was a college student once and I carried my own credit card. Little did I know at the time how important I was to the credit card industry. In fact, college students are so important to the credit card industry that they have singled out this specific demographic for extensive research. And, who can blame them for being so interested in college students – more than half of them are carrying at least one credit card around in their wallets and approximately one quarter of those people are using their cards to help them pay their tuition.

Of course, it takes more than just using a credit card for the credit card companies to make big bucks off of college students. The real money comes from finance charges – and college students are racking them up. Since most college students don’t work, or only work on a part time basis, they obviously don’t have the cash to pay off their balances at the end of each month. So, they carry their balances from month to month and watch the finance charges pile up.

According to the American Council on Education, the median credit card balance of college students during the school year was $1,000. Furthermore, those who charged their tuition had a greater tendency to carry a balance on their card. In an attempt to prevent letting their students create a debt they can never climb out of, some schools do not allow tuition to be paid with a credit card. Most schools, however, do permit student credit card usage because of the convenience it offers.

As you might imagine, the amount of debt a college student carries on his or her credit card also increases the further along he or she gets in school. So, what does all of this say to me? Well, I’m just happy that those days are behind me and I’ve paid off my tuition and my credit card bills. But, I am sure the credit card companies were sad to see me graduate.

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Tagged as: college students, Security & Technology