Campus Credit Card Debt on the Rise

Campus Credit Card Debt on the Rise
In the United States the ease with which college students can obtain credit cards has more and more young people buried in debt before they ever leave the college campus. In part the attraction of these credit offers can be attributed to rising tuition levels which leaves students without the funds for other necessary expenditures like food and books. Increasingly they are turning to credit cards to fill the gap.

The last year that statistics were available to track this growing problem was 2004. At that time it was estimated that three out of four college students in the United States had a credit card and more than forty percent actually had a minimum of four cards. The average credit card debt for a freshman student was $1,585 and for a senior $2,864.

College students are an especially good market for the credit card companies. Most are financially inexperienced and have a tendency not to treat their cards as "real" money. Typically college credit cardholders exceed their credit limit and make only minimum payments - all of which represents a profit potential for the credit card company.

In addition to the financial benefit, card companies find that their college marketing programs achieve a high degree of branding. Student card holder, in spite of their high credit card balances, typically display long-term loyalty to the company that approved their first credit card.

Several states, however, have enacted or are considering laws to protect college students from the company's aggressive marketing tactics. These laws include measures that range from prohibiting card company representatives from entering campuses to allowing them to do nothing more but hand out printed information.

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