@PandiferBear wrote:While it is no excuse, credit cards and college kids used to be a lot different than now. The CARD Act has a lot to do with it changing to how it is now. It used to be that credit card companies came to campuses offering all kinds of freebies for apping for their card. And sadly, a lot of people (self included) didn't really understand the gravity of it all. Or did, and didn't care. It is good that young people are protected these days, but it can make it harder for them to build credit.
Yes I remember the predatory nature of credit card companies when I was in college. They targeted 18 year old kids who have never lived on their own, who had little to no knowledge about how credit cards worked and offered them all sorts of shiny inducements to apply all the while knowing these kids had zero income and many were relying on student loans to pay their tuition. It was deliberate to trap these kids in debt. It was really disgusting how many teens got screwed over as a result and that was the whole point. They knew the kids would run up their cards and not have the money to pay them off, so they would carry the balance and pay tons of interest. In the end mommy and daddy would come in and pay off the bill if the kid was at risk for default. The schools should have been held accountable for letting these companies setup their displays like they did. Its quite different from when Amex targets MBA grads.
;
@heyarrnold wrote:Well, not a lot of people have matured by that age or have the slightest understanding of what credit is. They just charge and charge, but do no think about how they will pay for that later.
+1 since its their first time away from home usually they never had to balance their own finances. I think financial education should be much more heavily covered at the high school level, instead of just hoping people learn stuff on their own. I know it would have benefited me in early adulthood.
