It's an unfortunate common theme among college students today: mounting credit card debt preventing them from financial independence or potential jobs. But are Boston College students guilty of this irresponsible spending?
A recent article in The Daily Titan, the student newspaper at California State University, Fullerton) cited a 2004 survey that found that 91 percent of students had credit cards by their final year in college. Further, the article reported that the average outstanding balance of all student credit cards was $2,169. More than half carried balances of less than $1,000.
In part, this financial negligence of spendthrift students was attributed to the aggressive marketing on college campuses of credit card companies, who use advertising practices such as offering free T-shirts to students for signing up for a credit card.
"BC doesn't encourage credit card companies to come to campus," said Dean for Student Development Paul Chebator. He noted that if credit card debt is a problem for some BC students, it could be a result of the ease with which people are able to open multiple lines of credit.
To combat the rising problem of student debt, BC is equipped with several resources to educate students on managing their finances. BC's financial literacy program, Successful Start, sponsored by the Office of Student Services, was created last year to respond to the need for students to have financial knowledge in order to better manage their personal finances. As defined in its mission statement, Successful Start aims to "create financially literate BC students in order to prepare them for financial management for life."
The program offers free workshops for students from all grade levels on topics such as budgeting, credit cards, and debt and loan management. On Thursday, Successful Start is holding a workshop on taxes from 4:30 p.m. to 6:20 p.m. in Devlin 227. Students are asked to RSVP to all workshops by e-mailing successfulstart@bc.edu. Past workshops include "Analyzing your Credit Score" and "Anatomy of a Credit Report." PDF files from past workshops, information on upcoming workshops, and resources like a budget worksheet are all available on Successful Start's Web site at http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/financial/succstart.
Marsia Hill, senior financial aid associate from the Office of Student Services, explained the value of the workshops for BC students: "Successful Start is proactive. Lots of students have not learned information on financial topics. By the time they figure out they need this information, they're already in trouble," Hill said. Successful Start also provides a list of Web sites as a resource for students in need of personal financial attention. Links provided in the Successful Start brochure include www.cc-bc.com for Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling and www.mymoney.gov, the U.S. Financial Literacy and Educational Commission Web site.
Hill also noted the importance of getting a free annual credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com, or any of the following credit bureaus: www.equifax.com, www.experian.com, or www.transunion.com. It is important for students to manage their credit because some employers have added credit report checks to job applications. Those skits from orientation are unfortunate but true: Your credit report, like your Facebook page, is a means of determining your potential as an employee.
"What's happening now in society," Hill continued, "is that employers are using your credit report as part of job evaluations. Even though a student might have the right qualifications, if they don't have a good credit report, they might not get the job."
Information Technology Services (ITS) at BC offers tips for students on how to prevent identity theft and protect their credit card information at http://www.bc.edu/offices/help/virus.shtml.
The BC Police Department also offers information on preventing identity theft on the Crime Prevention page of their Web site, at http://www.bc.edu/offices/bcpd/prevention/identity.html. The page provides tips for students like securing their personal information in their rooms, especially those who have roommates.
While some have given out their room code to friends, they are certainly not encouraged to do the same with their PIN number. "Occasionally students or staff have an issue [with identity theft] but it's not a huge problem. One should always take precautions though," said BCPD Chief Robert Morse in an e-mail.
While some students may have issues with credit card debt, others don't. "I don't personally have a problem because I know how much money I have on my credit card based on what I earned through my summer job. I don't have a job right now so I know to budget myself," said Kathryn Boyle, CSON '11.
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