To avoid student credit card debt, parents leaving the card at home

08.29.09
By Lewis Green

For college-age students around the country it's back-to-school time, with many parents getting ready to pack up their children and send them off to university, but with so many students leaving college with credit card debt, some experts say a credit card is one thing that young adults shouldn't be packing.

Kiplinger.com recently wrote about the top 10 things students don't need at college, including a new textbooks and a big meal plan. But also on the list is a credit card.

The website says that even before regulations set in to limit people under 21 from getting a credit card, parents should steer their children away and instead make sure their kids are financially responsible before getting a card.

An increasing number of college students are struggling with a variety of debt before they even make it into the workforce. According to recent figures from the College Board, 2007-2008 grads at public institutions had a median debt level of $17,700, while private college graduates had a median level of $22,375.

Credit card debt appears to be a big part of that problem with a Sallie Mae report finding that the average college student had a credit card balance of $4,100.

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To avoid credit card debt, some parents are not giving their college-age kids credit cards