The role of credit cards in students’ lives

By Hope Daluisio
March 16, 2017

Productivity

Video by Maddy Worley, Jess Tennett and Patrick Smith

The role of credit cards in students lives have two purposes. One purpose is for leisure use like paying for a meal or clothes. The other purpose is for paying off debts, including student loans.

The biggest burden on most college student’s minds is the question, how am I going to pay my tuition? Student debt is one of the scariest responsibilities young people have to deal with today if they want to attend higher education.

$1.23 trillion in total is the United States’ student loan debt and around 44.2 million Americans have student debt loans. Student debt seems inevitable these days and is becoming increasingly larger each year.

Credit cards is one option of paying back student loans and with things in general. Many students opt to use credit card so they can get the money now, and worry about paying it back later.

“I’ve always dreaded finally paying back my student loans but I know its inevitable,” junior marketing major, Brandon Weaver, said. “I do not have a credit card in my name at the moment, but when it comes to paying back my loans in the future that might be my only option. Using credit cards for paying back my tuition is my last resort.”

Capital One offers a student credit card with a 20.49 percent purchase rate. Having a credit card in college can benefit a student by establishing credit at a young age. But the benefits also come with setbacks of possibly entering the world of debt.

The use of credit cards in students lives has decreased in today’s world versus ten years ago. In 2005 46 percent of students had a credit card in their name, but in 2015 only 23 percent had one in their name.

On the other hand credit cards can be useful in leisurely spending. The only fear that credit cards can cause is the temptation to let it get to your head and overspend, lending yourself to more debt.

“My personal opinion would be to have an American Express card,” human resource management professor, David Burke, said. “Because you have to pay it off by the 30th of every month and then you pay it off and you establish excellent credit as opposed to that balance approves interest over months and compounds interest.”

Students using credit cards for personal use and for paying back student loans all have the possibility to face these problems.

If you are a college student finding yourself stuck in one of these situations you campus’s registrar is here to help. At Cabrini the Cavalier Express Center are always welcoming students to talk with or deal with credit card and tuition situations.

“For students, or anyone trying to pay off credit card debt, I would recommend first creating a personal budget,” assistant director and compliance officer for the Cavalier Express Center, Thor Kress, said. “A budget will help to see where your money is being spent, and if there are ways to reduce your expenses. Interest rates on credit cards can often exceed 20 percent, so sometimes it will take a lot of effort to pay them off. Securing a temporary second or a part-time job for could be a good idea if the goal is to eliminate the credit card debt in a short amount of time.”

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Hope Daluisio

Loquitur Media Visual Managing Editor 2017-2018 // Cabrini University '19 // Photographer & Videographer

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