PSA: College Students and Debt

I'd like to share this message from the non-profit NFCC (National Foundation for Credit Counseling).

Growing older brings new responsibilities. And these new responsibilities will lead to making important choices which will ultimately impact a young man or woman’s future. So it's important to how to use credit responsibly.

Some stats:
- Almost one-half of all college students have accumulated more than $3,000 in credit card debt
- One in 10 graduates owes as much as $7,000.

Now, this doesn't count student loans. And $3,000 doesn't sound like a lot to some people, but for someone just starting out, that's a huge amount, especially if they may not really make that much to start off with.

Before accepting any credit card offer, it is important for a college student to know the consequences if and when it is mishandled. To help teach college students (or students approaching their college years) these important lessons, the NFCC has produced “College Credit for Life,” a nine-minute video which features young people talking about the mistakes they themselves made in college. The video also features important voices a college student may come in contact with such as: an apartment rental agent, a car salesman, and a human resources executive, all discussing the implications that the irresponsible use of credit can have as students prepare to move on from college and into the real world!

The video package also includes a true/false quiz on financial literacy and a lesson plan to use in conjunction with the video, offering key points and instructional exercises.

As a math teacher with a lot of junior students, this is something I can definitely use in my classroom!

For more information, you can also find NFCC on Facebook or follow NFCC on Twitter.