Credit Card Debt Among College Students

[meeks]

well i only have one card but i only use it on school related issues (ie if some of my financial aid mysteriuosly comes up missing, ya'll know how it is) and for books. my thing is these darn loans. i mean i dont have a billion dollars worth of them, but its enough that i don't think i'll be getting that new grand prix wide track for a while

DSTLOVE: good look on those other two agencies. if anyone is interested the number for TransUnion is 800-632-1765. I rec'vd my report in about a week.


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The truly educated never graduate!

[This message has been edited by meeks (edited January 17, 2001).]

[Discogoddess]

I still say that even 18-year-olds are old enough to understand the consequences of their actions, and no one is a "victim" of these companies. Their own bad judgement, perhaps, but you can't fault companies for doing what they are designed to do: make money by marketing their product to those who want it. Why are we always saying to the government/big business-"save us from ourselves"? Whatever happened to teaching personal responsibility, buyer beware and all that? What if they said fine, no one under 25 can buy a car, get a credit card or what-have-you? Then folks would be crying about their "freedom" being taken from them. We can't have it both ways.

That said, I STILL think older adults should be counseling their young adults around them so that they understand the far-reaching implications of credit, interest and the like.

As for student loans, I would be much happier seeing some young person into the federal government @ 8% interest for a serious INVESTMENT in their future than them being silly enough to be in debt to Visa/Mastercard, etc. because they purchased things that LOST VALUE the minute they purchased them (cars, clothes, etc.).

As I stated a few months ago (see above), my opinions have been formed from HAVING BEEN THERE and DONE THAT. Thankfully, I have a younger sister who heeded my cautionary tales and is on her way to a great job, with signing bonus, some savings and very little credit debt-straight out of college.

[AKAtude]

DST Love has made a good point by expressing how important it is to get a credit report from all three agencies. My sister taught me the importance of that a few years ago.

My sister and another woman shared the same name before she got married. The other woman's bill collectors were calling my sister. She hadn't used her maiden name in more than 10 years and didn't have any bills before she got married. The only link is that they had the same first and last names, and both lived in our hometown.

After threats from my sister, they got it straightend out...promptly. The charges never showed up on her credit reports, but she still checks them at least once a year. After that, I do the same.

Don't be afraid to question discrepancies!

[Rain Man]

Well, my credit began in November 1991 as a college freshman with my very first credit card issued by Sovran Bank (and after it being transferred and sold no less than five times since then and now under Citi Cards) which I still have today at a reduced rate of 12%--I plan to ask for another rate reduction in about a year from now.

During my college years I acquired four more credit cards (Citibank, Capital One, The GM Card, and the GE Card) and two department store cards--Marshall Field's, and MayCompany/Kaufmann's, and believe it or not, I did VERY well handling them all, sometimes amassing a little too much debt at times, but always made a payment and/or paid off and closed the account.

The dept. store cards I used rarely (MF I last used in '96 and made a very small purchase, and Kaufmann's was never used even once). and two of the other cards were paid off and closed out by me in 1996.

The debt problems began June 22, 1996 when I stupidly used my GM Card to make a cash advance to purchase a junky 1985 Honda Civic from a private owner ($1,200). I later traded it in for another Civic three weeks later. Seven months after that I HAD to buy an even newer Civic and put the $800 down payment on the GM Card. I also had began to max out my GE card (which thankfully only had a $300 limit compared to the $7,000 limit on the GM Card).

Oh, and I eloped with someone in August '97 so we purchased our rings on an Andrew's Jewelers card ($2,000). By the spring of 1998 I had maxed out all my cards, the Civic was repoed, the rings were returned in exchange for the debt being cancelled, and I filed for bankruptcy amassing $37,850 in debt. Oh, and I amassed $800 in cell phone bills (remember this was '97 and roaming charges for an out-of-town traveler like me were the norm).

Why did I do all this? Because I wanted to live the yuppie lifestyle SO badly. I had a job that gave me that persona. I drank lattes, drove a late model Honda, had a cell phone and a laptop, wore suits and ties everywhere, and I felt compelled to keep that yuppie image any way possible.

The bankruptcy alleviated all but student loan debt (of course). For about a year and a half I was a cash-only person. I got my updated original credit card in the mail in Nov. '99 (I had paid off and forgotten about that card YEARS ago, having only used it once or twice).

I financed two cars at a buy-here, pay-here dealership and paid them off promptly and that helped my credit some. I got a house financed two years after the bankruptcy which helped my credit some more. But I was unemployed for 5 months in 2001 and I ran out of $$ and I was reported 30 days late on my credit for two months in '01. I did begin a job at about that time and worked a payment plan w/the mortgagor to pay the back mortgage due, which I did promptly.

My credit card had almost reached its limit in the spring of 2003 ($2,100) when I got my tax refund ($3,000) and I paid off the balance.

Also, b/t 1998 and 2001, I paid off two student loans

Anyhow, to make a long story short, despite my shaky credit, I managed to refinance my house at a 5% rate, purchase a '98 Civic at a 6% rate, consolidate all my student loans at a 4% rate, get the late mortgage payments off my credit report and incorrect late student loan payments off my credit report.

My credit is now at its BEST standing in 6 years (PRAISE GOD!!!) The negative credit items will be removed b/t December and March of 2005 b/c of the 7 year limit.

Oh, and my credit card only has a balance of $80 as of now.

Moral to this post: When it comes to credit card purchases, know when to say when.

[Love_Spell_6]

Originally posted by blu_theatrics
Speaking from the trouble that I have found myself in with my credit cards, I think this should really be looked into legislatively.

I know that you must be eighteen to get a credit card and what not, but realisticly, when I got my first four credit cards, I was FRESH out of high school and was broke. I didn't have my mother right next to me to give me this and that and I was BROKE.

I was irresponsible, and I don't want to make any excuses for myself, but I think that it should not have been that easy for me to get four credit cards just like that.

And they know exactly what they are doing. They don't charge us any annual fees or processing fees and they set up these little pretty booths with t-shirts and cups and stuff. All you have to do is fill out a little form and prove your a college student and it's on. Then you get cards in the mail you didn't even ask for, and all kinds of stuff.

My credit is really not anywere near good right know, and I have cancelled my cards, which really makes themm not like you then, but I really wished that there could have been some kind of warning and it wasn't that easy.

But Like I said I was 18 and I though I was grown...lol. So I guess I deserved it.

But for a credit card company to set out and give credit cards to people when the blatantly state they have no job is really just to show how far they will go.

They let college students do that, because they know we have a long way to go in life and eventually they will get their money because we will want to buy houses and cars and what not. I jusdt think it is kind of wrong though that the schools allow this to happen

I am NOT attacking you personally...but I despise the notion that something "legislative" has to be done to correct our own lack of self control! This is a capitalist society...and while I don't agree with how credit card companies are going about it....they're trying to make $$ so more power to them! Its the PARENTS responsibility to educate their children about credit....and it is also the Young adult's responsibility to be educated in the area of credit. If you're old enough to drive and go to war for our country when you go off to college....you are old enough to deal with the consequences of being irresponsible with credit.....no one said life was fair...
...........Again I'm not talking to you personally

My Sorors would hold financial workshops, credit card education seminars at the beginning of each year....I'd say its a good way to learn responsibility..even if it does take years and years to pay off the debt...

[AKA2D '91]

Originally posted by AKA2D '91
Well, my story is different. I did not have credit cards while in college. Mind you, I had a CLEAN, POLISHED credit history....NO CREDIT, BUT, someone did obtain a card IN MY NAME!

I NEVER received ANY bills. I guess my SS# was obtained from a class roll, or some department and my identity was "stolen".

Anyway, one day, my mother called me and told me something about a card and the "bill" was being turned over to a collection agency. She KNEW I never came home with NEW items. Anything NEW I had, she had purchased them. Then the records showed that items had been purchased as far away as Chicago...HECK, I have NEVER been to Chicago!

So, from there we tried to get to the bottom of it. By the time we found out what had happened, it was too late. The incident went on my credit report. I submitted a dispute and left it at that. The debt the person had incurred was over $1000. So, that was in 92. Since then, I have little by little gotten my credit, back on track!

I HAVE NOT AND WILL NOT PAY FOR SOMETHING I DID NOT DO! Shoot, at least let me have some merchandise or something...YA KNOW!

I wish they would curtail or limit credit to college students.

Update:

My credit is back on track. I only have 1 card that is active. My other cards are inactive because I've paid those bills off.

I've placed statements on my credit report where companies are to contact me (in writing or via phone) that a line of credit is being requested. Hopefully, reduce or eliminate the chances that my identity is stolen again.

[RedefinedDiva]

Originally posted by Love_Spell_6
Its the PARENTS responsibility to educate their children about credit....and it is also the Young adult's responsibility to be educated in the area of credit. If you're old enough to drive and go to war for our country when you go off to college....you are old enough to deal with the consequences of being irresponsible with credit.....

This sounds good in theory, but not every student comes from a family that is good with credit, nor was ever educated themselves. Therefore, the parent may not be the most reliable source for information. There are hardly many students that sit down to learn about credit until it is too late. As a broke college student, the FREE school supplies, t-shirts, and false sense of "free money" is VERY appealing. It is true that people need to own up to their mistakes, but by the time it really becomes an issue, mounds and mounds of damage is done.

Credit education should be given in high school. I think that it should be conjoined with the required Free Enterprise class. That way students can learn before they are sent into college. School is the best (and sometimes only) place that some people will learn about certain subjects and I think that this is one that DEFINITELY needs to be addressed.

On another note:

I am in the process of rebuilding my credit and I'm so excited! I am alos taking steps to purchase my first home! Yippee!

[GRITS]

At my school, credit card vendors are not allowed on campus, so
I guess I have been sheltered form this problem.
Before I left for Bennett, my parents told me time and time again to not get a credit card- they'd prefer that I just ask them. SO with BC being credit card free, the only other place you can get them would be at the stores (malls). I do know of a few people who have them, but they only charge between 25-50 dollars a month and pay them off.

Question: Does having a bank overdraft fee mess up your credit?
Also,what are interest fees?

[ClassyLady]

Originally posted by RedefinedDiva
This sounds good in theory, but not every student comes from a family that is good with credit, nor was ever educated themselves. Therefore, the parent may not be the most reliable source for information.

So true!!

My boyfriend's mother was never good with credit or finances and in turn, never taught him how to manage his money. Right now, she does not have a checking account and often throws bills away without paying them. On the other hand, my mother taught us to be financially responsible early on. I can see the differences between the two of us now. He didn't open a bank account until he was about to come to college while I already had $2,000 invested in a CD. My boyfriend was lucky in that he had the initiative to teach himself about managing money and credit before he needed to know these things.

Being at an HBCU, I see situations like this all of the time. Many students here are the first in their families to attend college and come from low income neighborhoods. I have classmates who have ten credit cards. There is no need for any college students to have that many cards.

[CarolinaCutie]

Some of you have mentioned that you wish they would limit the amount of credit that is given to college students. I understand where you're coming from, but it's important to remember that not everyone goes to college. A 20 yr. old junior in college may not need that credit card to buy herself a hot new outfit or a stereo- but there's lots of 20 year olds out there married with babies who use credit to buy themselves a washer and a dryer, you know? I started thinking about this when I moved into an apartment. I got a Sears card because it had low interest and I purchased a TV. However, they gave me an UNGODLY amount of credit- my momma was like, "Uh, what in the world would you be buying at Sears at your age that costs that much?"

I think there should be more education about credit, though. I am no stranger to debt, but at least I knew what I was getting myself into. Many people come to school and sign up for those free Tshirts and don't know what they are doing!

[Conskeeted7]

Regardless of what anyone thinks, there are 18 and 20 year olds who can manage large amounts of credit. Some of them are able to use it to their advantage and come out on top of the credit game. Sure, there are thousands who don't do that, but it teaches them a lesson as well.

I personally got credit cards in college and used them at hard points in my life for straight survival. It was to the point where if I didn't have a credit card, I wouldn't have been able to put gas in the car to get to work to make more money. So, I needed it. I only have one card now because I paid off the others. However, I think that my experience with credit taught me how to use it more than any lesson from my parents or class, of which I had both.

[RedefinedDiva]

Originally posted by Conskeeted7
Regardless of what anyone thinks, there are 18 and 20 year olds who can manage large amounts of credit. Some of them are able to use it to their advantage and come out on top of the credit game. Sure, there are thousands who don't do that, but it teaches them a lesson as well.

I personally got credit cards in college and used them at hard points in my life for straight survival. It was to the point where if I didn't have a credit card, I wouldn't have been able to put gas in the car to get to work to make more money. So, I needed it. I only have one card now because I paid off the others. However, I think that my experience with credit taught me how to use it more than any lesson from my parents or class, of which I had both.

Yes, there are some people like yourself that has used credit wisely. I can and never will knock credit cards completely. However, it is more likely than not that some students that enter college don't know anything about credit. Sure, you learned mostly from experience, but you alos had a background in which you were taught by your parents and a class. Most people do not have that. I am sure that some of the information that you learned from home, school, or wherever about credit helped to shape some of the decisions that you made with your cards once you obtained them.

Credit is definitely a good thing once you get it and use it wisely. But we do need to acknowledge that a lot of people don't have some of the same life experiences. Some people do get the cards to help with gas (as you said), buying books and supplies, food, etc. But then there is always the problem of paying them back. Some people work the system, whiel others spend years working to pay the system back. It's hit or miss.

[KSigkid]

I know at my school there was a lot of attention focused during orientation towards proper use of cards, when to sign up for cards and when not to, etc. They basically showed the horror stories and left it at that. I only got one card in school and used it on a "as needed" basis.

It seems like sometimes there are mixed messages; schools bring people in to lecture on the evils of credit card use, but then allow companies to come on campus to sign students up.

[Dancerella1908]

This is a little off the subject but still vital info. about credit cards and debt.

It was bound to happen. People are using their camera phones to take photo's of unsuspecting shoppers credit cards while at the register. Then they use the credit card info. at their will and the persons credit is run up. The things criminals/hustlers won't think off. So be careful using your cards.