Study tracks student use of credit cards
More than half of college students have at least one credit card that is billed to them, a new study says, and about a quarter of those students have used their cards to pay tuition.
Overall, more than four in 10 student cardholders carried a balance from month to month, with a median balance of $1,000, according to an American Council on Education analysis of 2003-2004 federal data released Monday.
Beyond that, the data didn’t indicate the extent to which tuition charges are the reason students carry credit-card balances.
But some institutions refuse to allow the practice, saying they worry it will steer students toward more expensive ways to borrow.
Some colleges also say the fees charged by credit-card companies to process the payments aren’t worth it, considering the biggest beneficiaries are often parents simply looking to pad their frequent-flier accounts.
About 58 percent of students from families earning $80,000 or more carried their own credit card, compared with 54 percent of students from families earning less than $40,000.
Study tracks student use of credit cards, CNN, July 17, 2006
