Chances are you have a credit card; eighty-three percent of undergraduates do. Even if you’re among the 17 percent who don’t, your mailbox has almost certainly been bombarded with offers from credit card companies. Some companies even try to dazzle you with gifts: just last week I got an offer that included a free DVD player.

These shiny plastic cards easily entice many students. The problem? While spending money is never difficult, paying the bills often is. This month National Geographic reported the average college student graduates with $2,327 of credit card debt.

Some students have dug themselves into such a hole it takes years to climb out of.

Between 1999 and May 2001, nearly half of the fifty states started legislation to either study the effects of credit cards on students or to limit credit card solicitation at colleges and universities. Despite widespread negative publicity on student credit card debt, little appears to have changed.

Banks pay barely over three percent for the money they borrow, but they often charge 18 percent or more on your balance, plus hefty fees for late payments. That’s why you’re getting letters from them. Sleazy credit card companies unfairly target college students in their advertising, playing to our desire to be independent, as college life is often our first real taste of life away from home. But when commenting: “if my parents only knew,” the second half of the sentence shouldn’t involve thousands of dollars in debt.

There is nothing wrong with students having credit cards. Students should be responsible for their spending; however, they should be aware that credit card companies often attempt to profit from their inexperience.

Kathy Estock from the University of Wisconsin Credit Union marketing department explained advertising singles out students because “studies show that students are extremely loyal to the company that first grants them a credit card, keeping the card several years after graduation. Credit card issuers want long-term customers, so it makes sense that they’d want to acquire student customers.”

True as this may be, not all businesses are responsible, and many credit card companies focus more on students’ notorious lack of financial savvy.

The Credit Union offers students a low, fixed-rate Visa card, so that few get into serious debt. Estock cautioned, however, that students should read the fine print of any credit card offer, and not fall for “teaser” rates, or low initial rates that quickly rise.

“Some credit card companies charge exorbitant fees for minor infractions,” Estock noted. “For example, we’ve seen card issuers charging a $35 late fee if the payment arrives at 2:00 p.m. on the due date, when the contract states that payments must arrive by noon.”

Add credit card debt to exams and social problems, and many students are pushed to the brink. It’s not unusual to find counselors helping students deal with their debts. UW students can seek financial counseling through money-management seminars with the Credit Union or a consultation at University Health Services.

“In general, we get a broad assessment of all the things that are not working in a person’s life,” Robert McGrath, UHS director of Counseling and Consultation, clarified. He said counseling would address both the emotional and the psychological aspects of overspending. “We would talk about the importance of control and how to best make sound financial decisions. Generally, people have made impulsive purchases,” he observed.

Having one or more credit cards has become the norm for American adults, and while in the past credit cards were used only for very large purchases, they are now used for just about anything. Estock said anyone with a credit card should remember credit is not “free money.”

“The trick is to use credit wisely — pay your bill on time, pay as much as you can each month, and don’t spend more than your available limit. These are three critical measures used to create your credit score,” she said.

It sounds so easy and so obvious, yet horror stories of student debt aren’t going away. If anything, they’re becoming more common. College students are already saddled with costly tuition. They don’t need to add credit card debts. It’s too bad we don’t hear more about abstinence in relation to credit cards.

Cynthia Martens ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in Italian and European studies.