Florida State University junior Lloyd Spring has only one credit card.
He likes it that way. But that hasn’t stopped six other credit-card companies from sending him cards in the mail.
Spring threw them all away. He saw a friend run up a $5,000 debt on four credit cards in his first semester at school, and he doesn’t want that to happen to him. So he makes sure he has enough money in his bank account to cover any purchases he charges.
“For me personally, having a credit card has been good,” Spring said. “But for many of the people I know, it hasn’t been a pleasant experience.”
Having a credit card can be a great convenience for college students away from home – and from their parents’ money – for the first time.
Responsible use of a credit card can be the first step toward building a solid credit history. But, if students don’t exercise restraint, credit cards can create problems that take years – and thousands of dollars – to fix.
The cards are easy for students to get. Credit-card companies spend lots of time and money wooing students.
Many set up displays on college campuses and offer T-shirts or other goodies for signing up. Or, as in Spring’s experience, they send students card applications by mail. Some students sign up for one card after another.
That’s their first mistake, financial advisers say. The next mistake many students make is putting purchases on their cards with no plan for how to pay for them later. That’s how debt starts to grow.
“It’s getting to the point where it’s common for a lot of young people 20 or 21 years old to have two or three credit cards, and student loans, too,” said Mickey S. Moore, vice president and chief lending officer at Sunshine State Credit Union.
Statistics back him up. Two recent studies, a joint survey by the Education Resources Institution and the Institute for Higher Education Policy and a survey by the firm Student Monitor, found that nearly two-thirds of college students had at least one credit card.
Between 6 and 13 percent had four or more credit cards.
How much are students charging on those cards? Student loan provider Nellie Mae reports the average student credit-card debt is $2,478.
Thirteen percent of the students in its sample survey had balances between $3,000 and $7,000, and 9 percent had balances of more than $7,000.
Students’ spending habits have made credit cards a big part of the college experience, Moore said. “(Students) have a lifestyle they like to live in college. If you can’t work 40 hours a week, it’s real hard to go out a lot, have good clothes, be in a fraternity or sorority.” But debt is easily avoided, financial advisers say. Just exercise a little restraint and plan ahead.
“I think students should have credit cards for emergency use only,” said Liz Akom, certified financial planner with Akom Financial Consultants. “Keep a low credit limit on your card so you’re not tempted, and don’t charge more than you can pay back.” “Go slow,” advises Sunshine State’s Moore. “Get one credit card with a low limit, and use it responsibly before you get another one. Shop around for the best rates, and read your agreements closely.”
Most important, financial advisers say, remember that just because a company offers you a card doesn’t mean you have to take it. “Most students I don’t think are prepared to have them,” FSU junior Spring said. “But they seem more than ready to give them to you.

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