The Daily Campus

Issue date: 3/30/09 Section: Commentary

By senior year, college students carry an average of $2,864 in credit card debt, according to USA Today. That large amount of debt can and should be avoided.

There are a lot of contributing factors to college students' debt; however, the majority of the issues stem from irresponsible spending. Many college students are handed credit cards at a young age and are not taught how to use them responsibly. Some students may have had free-reign over their parents' plastic money whenever they needed or wanted something. This behavior could encourage irresponsible spending before college, but in college, the situation only gets worse.

College students need to order things online and buy books, along with other major expenses and a credit card could make those things easier to do. Also, many students are decently far from home and a credit card is a good thing to have in an emergency. However, there is a lot of temptation in college to purchase things that are not necessary and credit cards can facilitate that.

ConnPIRG is trying to promote responsible credit card handling on the UConn campus. This is a very commendable effort considering that a large number of students have at least one or more credit cards. They are opposed to credit card companies marketing on campus by giving away freebies like T-shirts and pizza in exchange for filling out a credit application. Students actually sign up for a credit card thinking that they won't have to use it or they can only use it occasionally, but they don't look at the important things like rates and interest. It is much cheaper to buy that slice of pizza and sign up for a credit card that fits your lifestyle than risk being burdened by a pile of debt for the rest of your life.

College students need to be smart about managing their finances, especially in this failing economy. ConnPIRG is endorsing responsible credit card marketing on college campuses. Students may still be given opportunities to sign up for a credit card, but there will be an added part of the sign up that helps educate students on responsible spending and let them know what they are getting themselves into. They crafted the principles for responsible credit card practices on campus statement of support to promote this campaign. The principles include prohibition of gifts in marketing, purchasing student lists, and departmental sponsorship as well as a requirement that marketing posters and flyers have time expiration dates, promotion of responsible credit card use and better offers for contractual terms and conditions.

ConnPIRG hopes to discourage college students who do not know what they are getting themselves into to think before they act. There is more to life than just college. You don't want to live that part of your life in debt. So, support the ConnPIRG campaign and use your best judgment when signing up for a credit card.

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