Financial management is one of the most important skills college students need to learn.
For college students and recent grads who are just entering the workforce, learning how to manage their financial life is one of the most important things for their future happiness. Of course, good money skills are important in all stages of life, but financial mistakes and excess student loans can stick with a student for the best part of their working life.
Over half of all college students have at least one credit card and most of them have four or five cards. According to a study by Take Charge America Institute, the average college graduate has about $3,000 in credit card debt and has student loans as well.
How can you tell if you or your child is having problems with credit? Here are some signs:
- They have several loans – Students who are already in debt with student loans or other personal loans are more likely to have bad financial habits.
- They have a job – When students are gainfully employed, it's easier for them to get credit, and they are more apt to make bad choices.
- They live off campus – The more independent the student is, the higher the odds are that they have bad habits.
- They are the first ones in their families to attend college – For students whose parents didn't attend college; they may not have been taught about the dangers of student loans and the temptation of easy credit cards.
- They got their credit card early – The younger a person is when they get their first credit card, the more likely they are to abuse the privilege.
Of course, just because you meet some of this criteria, doesn't mean that you make bad choices in regards to your finances. It just means that you are in a higher risk group. If you are worried about your financial choice, it may be useful to take a financial management course at your college or look for workshops that teach financial planning to students.
What do you think about the exploding debt that college students are having to cope with? Let me know in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for CollegeJobBankBlog. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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