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Students
and Credit Cards… are we doing enough?
By Jon Bono,
Residence Hall Director, State University of New York College at Cortland
Today college
campuses are bombarded with credit card applications and solicitors. In
every student union, residence hall mailbox, and university bookstore
bag, students are walking away with tempting invitations to the world
of credit.
There are
many positive benefits to using credit cards as a college student. First
and foremost, responsible credit card use in college translates into establishing
good credit for the future. In addition, parents tend to find peace of
mind knowing that their son or daughter has a credit card in case of an
emergency that demands immediate payment. Many students employ credit
cards as a means of convenience with the intention of paying the balance
off each month as to not accrue any interest charges. Unfortunately, according
to a recent student, while most students use credit cards wisely, it is
estimated that one in ten students do not. It is this misuse of credit
cards that surrounds the growing concern over student debt.
In June
of 1999 a press release by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) presented
the issue of college student credit card debt. The report blasted credit
card companies for luring unsuspecting students into debt. The report
indicated that the growing credit card debt by college students is so
aggressive that it poses a greater threat than alcohol abuse or sexually
transmitted diseases. Unaffordable credit lines, increasing education-related
expenses, peer pressure to spend, and financial naiveté reinforced
by low minimum monthly payments makes the slide into debt all to easy.
The way that students really get into trouble is their lack of knowledge
and understanding of the interest rates associated with credit card use.
Students accumulate high balances and attempt to pay off their debt with
the low minimum monthly payment requested by the credit card company.
Paying only the minimum payment in fact results in so much interest that
you could end up spending over ten dollars for a gallon of milk! With
all of this in mind, I believe that we as residence hall staff can aggressively
address this topic and send our students off better equipped to deal with
the world of credit.
There are
countless approaches to addressing this growing concern on your campus.
First and foremost, the introduction to credit and financial responsibility
should be incorporated into your residence hall programming model. Encourage
your student staff to invite a guest speaker in to your building or have
your student staff research the topic and prepare a bulletin board for
their floor or the building. Secondly, address your freshman seminar and
freshman orientation programs and encourage the introduction of this topic
into their programs. Lastly, encourage your advancement office as well
as any other office on campus that deals with credit card companies (solicitation
or support) to speak with the representatives of those companies and ask
them to come to campus and provide educational support for the preceding
initiatives. Colleges and Universities benefit from the support of credit
card companies and I believe it is appropriate to demand that same support
for our students.
There are
countless ways that student affairs professionals are addressing this
topic. Your only limitation is your own imagination and creativity. Financial
fitness is just another piece of the puzzle in developing the “whole”
student. We strive so intently to provide a well-rounded out-of-class
experience for students; it is important that we not leave anything out.
About the Author
Jon Bono is currently a residence hall director at the State University of New York College at Cortland. Prior to coming to New York, Jon was serving as a resident director at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina while he was completing his M.A. in Student Development. Jon is active in ACPA and presented Credit Card Wisdom – What is our debt to students? at the 2002 convention in Long Beach, California.