The Triangle

Issue date: 5/29/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Emily Olson

As part of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act signed May 22 by President Barack Obama, various policies will be enacted to protect credit card users, with a special focus on college students.

According to USA Today, the newly-enacted law will ban credit cards for individuals under 21 unless they can prove the means to pay off debt or have a parent or guardian co-sign for the card. As a result, most college students will be unable to get a credit card without their parents' approval and parents will have much more oversight on how their children use credit cards.

"I think [the provisions are] fair and [they] make sense. Twenty-one is a good age for the cutoff because most kids under 21 are in school and aren't directly paying their bills," Nikul Patel, a sophomore majoring in biology, said. "Usually, their parents are paying for tuition and other costs, so it's fair for parents to see credit card usage. After 21, I think most people have graduated and will be supporting themselves, so there's no need for oversight."

However, some individuals have expressed concern over the unforeseen effects that the CARD Act may cause. For example, Karen Gross, president of Southern Vermont College, commented that if low-income students cannot secure credit cards, they may be forced to pursue costlier methods of financing their education. According to Sallie Mae, a student lender that monitors college-level debt, about 30 percent of college students use credit cards to partially finance a college education.

"I have never recommended [that] students use credit cards to finance a college education," Melissa Englund, assistant vice president of enrollment planning and retention services at Drexel University, said.

Englund urged students to contact the Financial Aid Office to explore government and private loans for financing their education and developing credit.

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