Easy Access to Credit cards Will Mess Up Students' Credit For Years to Come

Businessweek.com is publishing a series on the impact of easy access to credit by students on our campuses. The following is an excerpt from its published material

"Over the next month, as 17 million college students flood the nation's campuses, they will be greeted by swarms of credit-card marketers. Frisbees, T-shirts, and even iPods will be used as enticements to sign up, and marketing on the Web will reinforce the message. Many kids will go for it. Some 75% of college students have credit cards now, up from 67% in 1998. Just a generation earlier, a credit card on campus was a great rarity."

You can read the rest of the story at its website. I think all students should read this series before leaving their parents' home for college. It should be required reading by all of them. Parents should advise them to read it too.

For many of the students now, the cards they get will simply be an easier way to pay for groceries or books, with no long-term negative consequences. But for Seth Woodworth and a growing number like him, easy access to credit will lead to spending beyond their means and debts that will compromise their futures..."