Student Credit Card Debt Balances Increased 74% According to Sallie Mae

Sallie Mae recently released their fifth college student credit card report. Sallie Mae’s "National Study of Usage Rates and Trends" comes out every four years. Not surprisingly, the report showed that things were significantly different in 2008 vs. 2004 when it came to student credit cards.

Here are a few key points from the study:

• 84% of undergraduate students had a credit card in 2008, vs. 76% in 2005.
• The average undergraduate student had 4.6 credit cards in 2008. 
• Debt balances for undergraduate students are now at record highs, up 74% to a median balance of $1,645.
• 21% of undergraduates carry a credit card debt balance between $3,000 and $7,000. 
• The percentage of freshmen with no balance on their credit cards decreased from 69% to only 15%.
• Seniors graduated with an average credit card debt of $4,100, up from $2,900.
• Only 17% reported regularly paying off all of their credit card balances each month.
• 84% of undergraduates reported that they needed more education on financial management topics.

Click here for more findings from the Sallie Mae report.

Altogether, this adds up to a pretty bleak outlook for our nation's college students. Combined with a tough job market after graduation, there are going to be quite a few recent graduates facing serious debt issues. The congressional push to restrict credit card offers to students under 21 seems well deserved.

Are you a student with credit card debt? Or a graduate who is still battling with debt balances from your undergraduate years? Share your story in the comments below.

Emily Peters – Credit.com's personal finance expert and former TransUnion credit bureau insider. Emily writes about credit reports, credit cards, loans and personal finance as the CreditBloggers.com editor.

Comments

[Sara]

I had up to 12,000 dollars in credit card debt in 2005 when I graduated from college. I have payed off all my credit card debt by signing up w/ a debt management company. And know, that a true debt management company does not cost any money at all to start, companies that charge fees are frauds. I paid one lump sum monthly for almost 3 years and paid more when I could. I did not use a credit card the entire time I was in the program and continued to drive the car from high school that was paid off and did not make any large purchases, such as a home, until after all my credit card debt was paid. I am now credit card debt free...although student loans and a mortgage are now my only debt. I have used that money that I was paying for monthly for the credit cards to buy a new car.

[Average Credit Card Debt]

Interesting article. The average debt statistics in this country are frightening and aren't getting much better. Hopefully the new legislation passed recently will help protect/educate consumers.

[Elva Ya]

really infomative article, thanks!

[Harrys]

Hi,

We have just added your latest post “Student Credit Card Debt Balances Increased 74%" to our Directory of Credit Cards. You can check the inclusion of the post here . We are delighted to invite you to submit all your future posts to the directory for getting a huge base of visitors to your website and gaining a valuable backlink to your site.

Warm Regards

Credit car-d Team

http://www.creditca-rd.info

[Michelle Boudreau]

The figure shows increased demands for credit cards sales as more are aware of the importance of the credit cards in daily lives .

[student credit cards]

student credit cards have been used by lots of young adults nowadays. beforehand they should know to manage their finances to avoid debt problems in the future. They have to be financially ready in terms of paying at least the minimum amount of their credit card debt.