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Teen Debt Statistics

I had a financial planner write this short article on teen debt statistics. I recommend reading it before attempting to get any kind of credit.

According to a recent study in teen credit card statistics: only 55% of college students pay their credit card bills 100% of the time. In addition to that, over 80% of college students carry a credit card, either their parent's card or a student credit card. Interest rates, late fees, and all sorts of numbers are something that students are unable to wrap their head around.

Many students assume that their student credit card is an unlimited cash machine that never runs out. That's to be expected though since parents today are giving their kids everything and anything that they want. No responsibility is being taught about spending management so when kids finally realize that they have dug themselves into huge student credit card debt; it's already too late.

But debt is something that parents deal with and it can't possibly happen to teens, right? WRONG. Credit card companies are targeting college youths more and more each year. With application booths opening across college campuses; offers of low interest rates pouring through the mailboxes; it's no wonder such a high percentage of college students nowadays posses a credit card, as the teen credit card statistics show. This means that there's a high percentage of those college students that have acquired debt on their student credit card.

So what's the big deal with teen student credit card debt? Well, with the widespread effect of student credit card debt, it is putting tremendous pressure on students across the nation. With over 10 million students enrolled in college and a huge amount of them affected by this, it's definitely a big deal. The average balance owed on student credit cards is around $2, 347. Add that amount on top of student loans among many other things and that's clearly a huge debt to pay off for the average student.

Most of us can probably conclude that a lot of these students aren't ever going to be able to pay off their owed debt -- and credit card companies probably know that too. But knowing most American teens far too well, their parents will come to the rescue of their children and pay the student credit card bills for them.

In order to avoid all these head-achy problems in the long run, parents need to teach their kids early about spending management. Before allowing them to use or own a credit card, they must know the ins and outs of the credit card's monthly statement; and responsibility with credit cards need to be understood.