College students are racking up an alarming amount of credit card debt these days, and it's only increasing as time goes on. The average college student has thousands in credit card debt, and when they graduate from college, they begin their new life in the “real world” with debt they can't pay. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Student Figure: I will live how I want from time to time and then when I get a job it will be easy to pay it off. This is often not the case. Lower-than-expected salaries, higher-than-expected living expenses, and large student loan payments make managing credit card debt even more difficult for students and recent graduates. And the worst part about college students having so much credit card debt is that it takes so long to pay it off. Even if they were able to make the minimum payments, meeting the minimum payments would take a student more than 12 years and $1,115 in interest to pay off a $1,000 bill on a card with an 18% annual rate. If students fall behind on payments, they are hit with high late fees. And it's easy for things to get out of hand. Of course, there are two sides to this story. Most college students start out with little or no credit, so having a credit card seems like a good idea so they can start building a credit history in anticipation of owning a new or better car and even, one day, your own home. Unless they have been warned about the dangers of using credit cards or are particularly naive, this may be a bad move. Credit card debt for college students impacts so many aspects of their college life. They are unable to pay their bills regularly and find themselves short of cash. Additionally, it can affect their ability to get a student loan, which can be crucial with ever-increasing tuition rates. And parents should be careful not to put their college students on their own credit cars as an authorized user since the same debt can accumulate under the parents' name and cause serious credit problems. Armed with the right information, many students are able to establish credit and avoid card debt. Even though college students have credit card debt, 54% of college students pay off their credit card balances every month. Most tend to be responsible and use paper wisely. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay However, some of them don't and find themselves in trouble. If a person reaches 18 years of life without financial means, it is very difficult to change their behavior and this is why it is so important for parents to talk to their children about managing money. To keep a college student out of credit card debt, the key is to teach students money management skills before handing them a credit card.