Enormous Credit Card Debt Epidemic In Campuses across America
There is a major debt problem that is sweeping across America. The creditors best new tactic is to target their marketing at the young people to get them used to running on the dreaded credit card treadmill at a ripe young age. The major credit card issuers post up regularly right outside of college campuses offering young unemployed students credit cards pre-approved with credit limits of $5,000 or more for kids with no credit histories at all. All with the intent of getting students deep in debt so once they graduate they will be paying off their credit cards for the rest of their lives.
This causes a plethora of problems for students. One especially aggravating problem is that kids need to take time away from studying to work more hours to pay off completely avoidable credit card bills. Some instances force young people to drop out all together to get full time jobs to pay off their bills.
For anyone who has seen the very unnerving documentary 'Maxed Out' you can see first hand how bad a debt situation can affect students. There were two college students whose parents were interviewed, both of whom committed suicide over their large debts that they owed. The persistence from commission-driven collectors didn't at all help out either. Plus many more students fall into deep depression because of the debt situation in.
These credit card issuers even go to the extent of hiring other college kids to solicit their credit cards within the dormitories. Some students will make up to $15 for every student who applies to get a line of credit. And I am sure there are many more tactics they are using to sign up as many young college students as they possibly can.
One way to counteract this problem would be to enlighten students in the 12th grade before college about the associated risks that come with having credit cards. There should be a mandatory course developed into the curriculum of high school seniors educating them on what the consequences could be if they misuse credit. The course should also teach seniors how to correctly manage their income to avoid any overwhelming debt problems in college.
Debt settlement is a sensible method of credit card debt relief for the kids that have found themselves in a very bad debt situation that they can no longer deal with themselves. It will help kids save a tremendous amount of money and become debt free within a few years, so when they graduate they will not be carrying a large debt mountain over their shoulders.
Steve Martin is a credit card debt analyst with the US Consumer Advocate, which practices in debt settlement.
Published December 4th, 2007