Every Student Should Study Finance

by Greg Lipinski

Many students enter college unaware on how they should financially interact with the real world. No more allowance for mowing the lawn to spend on the movies. They have no entered the realm of high priced textbooks, rent, and scarce jobs to fit in between classes. Now it’s a whole different ball game.

“Too many college students go off to school without understanding finances,” said Shalonda Jones, a representative of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “Parents make the mistake of not introducing financial literacy to children at a young age and most parents are equally clueless as to what it takes to remain financially stable, she said.” Students of finance and business do have the advantage of education on the matter, but can still fall wayward in their expenses.

This is a very real problem as well. According to an advisor at a major university, more students drop out of college due to credit card debt than to academic failure. And though the books, rent, and other large expenses can deliver a serious blow to a student’s bank account, small expenses are to be feared as well. Small thinks, like daily coffee or cigarettes, are an easy way to spend hundreds of dollars a year.

As if that weren’t enough, banks are now placing even more pressure on students financially. Banks are more and more eminent on campus, constantly giving handouts and incentives to open accounts and credit cards. This packs on the potential of even more debt.

Essentially, everyone needs to take it into their own hands and either take a course or learn themselves up on methods for staying fiscally sound. Accountability is entirely in there hands. My word of advice? Learn a fake name and address and those handout shirts and blankets are yours, without the potential of a $1000 credit card bill.

www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/25/cnnu.money/ “College can be a crash course in debt”, Phillip Lucas, 2/28/2007

financialplan.about.com/cs/college/a/MoneyCollege.htm “Money and the College Student”

www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/business/01student.html?_r=1 “Colleges Profit as Banks Market Credit Cards to Students”, Jonathan D. Glater, 12/31/2008