Students with Credit Cards Are Not Generally a Good Idea

Many college students get into trouble with credit cards, even before they have jobs, and suffer for their poor judgment for many years. There are college students who can handle the responsibility of a credit card, but most college students are better served with a bank account and a debit card.

College freshmen are 18 years old, they're smart and they're doing their best, but they're also very young adults, free to make their own decisions for the first time, and a credit card can make those decisions very bad ones.

Many times, college students fall behind on their payments because they simply don't have the money to pay their credit card bills, no matter how hard they work. Or they work too many hours at outside jobs, trying to keep up with their credit card payments.

At a time when they're supposed to be concentrating on their education and preparing for good jobs with good pay and good benefits, these students are caught up in trying to not go bankrupt in college. If they can't make the payments, they're harassed by collection agents who are not above threatening to have them thrown out of school for not paying their credit cards, if they don't ask their parents to pay. This is actually quite common behavior with younger students. These students don't know the collection agency can't get them thrown out of school, and the agents get abusive and threaten these young kids who've done nothing but show poor judgment.

Parents who are concerned about their children being able to have money in case of an emergency should consider a preloaded debit card that the parent can load in an emergency. A bank account and debit card for the student's paycheck and financial aid change checks is a good way to give the student spending money.

Credit cards should generally be avoided until the individual has some experience managing money. While credit card companies love to prey on college students, there's no reason college students should agree to be prey.

Naturally, not all parents, and certainly not all college students, will agree with this assessment. However, before making a decision about credit cards as a college freshman, it would be a good idea to take the literature from the credit card companies and study it carefully, away from the hype and pressure of the credit card company's representatives. Very few college students truly need a credit card, and even fewer benefit from having one.

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