June 1st, 2009 by Reed Allmand 
According to an article in the Star-Telegram, the average college student has more than four credit cards and most do not to pay off their balance on a monthly basis.
The article said:
With college costs ratcheting upward and credit cards as easily available around campuses as cheap beer, it’s no surprise students are piling on the debt as fast as they’re pulling out the plastic. Patrick Rogan, a CPA and community college instructor, calls the lack of financial preparedness “appalling.”
In just the past five years, the median amount of credit card debt that college freshman hold has gone from $373 in 2004 to $939 in 2009. That’s an amazing amount of debt for youth who are barely out of high school. I would be curious to see just how much debt these youths will have by the time they graduate college, not counting student loans. Credit card debt during college can morph into a high speed train to bankruptcy. Most college students don’t have the income to pay the high interest fees and charges on credit cards which can cause big problems. Even after college, many students are not able to maintain credit card payments, eventually become overwhelmed and delinquent. Many youth are starting out in life with debt and/or bad credit because they can’t pay on the credit debt they accumulated during college. The recent legislation restricting credit card companies’ access to college youth under 21 years old is a win for youth who often become victims of the very credit cards that are supposed to help them financially.
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
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