CREDIT

Credit Card Basics

Credit is loosely defined as the exchange of goods and/or services for a promise to repay at a later date for a given fee. People use credit for a variety of reasons such as convenience, emergencies, and, in the case of many college students, early consumption of goods and services. Here are some statistics on college students and credit card use:

78% of college students have credit cards
32% of college students have 4 or more credit cards
Average credit card debt of these students: $2,748
Nearly 1 in 4 college students owes more than $3,000
College students owe almost 50% of the nation's $285 billion credit card debt

Useful links:
How Much Do You Really Know About Credit?

Sources:

* Nellie Mae, 2000.
# Susan Shelly, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Money for Teens, Alpha Books, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2001, p 191.