Are Colleges Creating a Legacy of Credit Card Debt for Students and Alumni?

If you don’t graduate with credit card debt your alma mater may try and help you accumulate some once you’re gone.

Not only are some schools allowing credit card marketing to students on campus, selling their students’ personal information to credit card issuers, and failing to provide student education on the proper use of credit cards but now they’re peddling credit cards to their alumni. I recently received the offer below from the school where I earned my undergraduate degree.

I don’t know whether the school gave my information to credit card vendors while I was in school but obviously they feel comfortable doing so after graduation. They lead off the ad encouraging their alumni to carry more than one credit card. Many people graduating today already leave college with student loans and some credit card debt, why are schools pushing us to accumulate more?

The motivation behind the campaign is obvious, you can “support your alma mater” every time you swipe the card. In my opinion, most of us already helped support our school by paying thousands of dollars of tuition for four years. Why would we be interested in supporting them by giving them a cut of all credit card debt we acquire? Of course, used responsibly, alumni cards could be a simple way to support your school. However, statistics show that most of us don’t use credit cards responsibly. In light of this it seems a valid question to ask, what kind of legacy are schools leaving with their credit card policies?

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

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