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June 8, 1999
You go away to school and start feeling independent.
So you get a credit card -- it's so easy.
But often the next step is, you're heavily in debt, and dropping out of
school or worse, to pay off your card.
Jason Britton, a Georgetown University graduate, says, "By the time I finished
my third year at Georgetown, I had 16 credit cards, and about roughly $10,000
to $12,000 in debt."
Jason graduated last weekend and is already starting a new job.. success that
was nearly spoiled by the lure of easy credit.
Others have not been so lucky, feeling no escape from their huge credit
card bills.
Sean Moyer owed $10,000 on credit cards during his junior year.
He committed suicide.
His family blames the debt --
and aggressive credit-card marketing that
continues a year and a half after Sean's death.
Sean's mother, Janne O'Donnell, says, "This came Friday. Four days ago for
him. Pre-selected credit line up to
$100,000 from Chase. He owed Chase when he died. And we get these at least
once a month. So it never stops."
Consumer groups say credit cards are a growing campus problem. They
released a study today critical of the culture of easy student credit.
Robert Manning, of Georgetown University, says, "Students will refer to it not
simply as plastic money but as play money. And increasingly, they refer to
recent graduate students' use of credit cards as yuppie food stamps."
The Consumer Federation of America wants new laws requiring people under
age 21 to get a parent's approval or show sufficient income before getting
credit cards.
Credit card companies say most students use their credit cards responsibly.
