For years, the credit card companies were allowed to be on campus to seek out new customers. The students were ready, willing and able and wanted them there. They bit into the credit card apple very heavily. But somewhere along the line, the colleges and universities decided that it wasn’t too healthy to have those greedy individuals on campus to get to the students who were simply there to have an education.
Way back when this first was occurring, it wasn’t so bad. The student got the credit card and used it for a pizza with friends, some groceries, snacks and a couple of tickets to the latest concert. But now, the students who do get the new credit cards are using them for much larger things…like tuition and books. This creates a bigger problem since they are unable to pay the companies back without an income. The credit card companies were preying on them because they knew that at some point these people would have better incomes. They struck while the iron was hot.
Now, since they are banned from many campuses, they have found new ways to get into the pockets of the students and it’s quite devious. A student will find that they have a coupon for a free sandwich at the local fast food store. But when they get there for the free food, they find out that in order to get it, they have to fill out an application for a credit card.
The problem I see is that too many students are vulnerable to having something “free”. In this fast paced world, they believe that free is truly free when, in fact, it may be totally different. Confronted with having to fill out an application, many will do this for the free food. They figure..what the heck…I don’t expect to get one anyway. Why not? Then, in a few weeks, a credit card is mailed to them with a good sized balance on it.
What they do not see is that the credit card holds fees and charges that are not incurred until they use it the first time. For instance, let’s say that the tuition is due. Hey, pay the leftover with the credit card! Not bad. It gets that out of their hair and saves money to spend elsewhere. Good idea. Is it? The first fee is the start up which could cost $100. The student would not know about that one until the first bill showed up. Then there is the monthly charge posted ahead of the month. An annual fee is charged to the card unknown to the customer until the bill comes. Late fees. Rising interest rates because they are not locked into a specific rate at the time of sign up. From there, it gets pretty costly.
Anyone who has had to deal with low credit ratings can tell you that a card like that will have a very high interest rating plus attached fees. This way, if the company does not get all it’s original money back, it can keep the student broke for years. The only way to deal with that particular type of card is to pay it off when the bill comes. Period. Then cut it up.
I consider credit card companies that prey on students to be a form of low life. They are well aware that many students are not going to resist this dangling carrot. It means the rest of the tuition paid without worries. It means concert tickets when they could not otherwise have it. It means extra pizza for finals week. It means more snacks for study time. It really means more debt before the student even gets out in the world.
Most students do not come out of college with a clean slate. That’s bad. It puts an amazing pressure on them that they would not ordinarily have. Perhaps the best way is to do without the card and the things it provides because, in the end, it will be a huge albatross on the student’s neck even after they get out of school, perhaps more so then than when in school.
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