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A higher education, in the 21st century, has the capacity for revealing to students their capabilities for going into massive debt. And some unscrupulous credit card companies are taking advantage. For them it’s hunting season for the vulnerable, naive and yes, credit uneducated.
A quality education is supposed to mean economic opportunity, not spending many years after graduation struggling to get out of debt. A quality education is supposed to open doors. But debt can slam them closed.
Until disinvestment in education is reversed in Oregon, the trend toward more student debt is bound to continue. This will require a long-term solution, not a quick fix. In the meantime, perhaps more financial counseling is needed so students, especially incoming freshmen, can make wise decisions about how to pay for their college educations. Credit is not a bad thing, and it is often a very necessary thing. But it must be used wisely.
It is to the EOU student government’s credit that it is attempting to put the kibosh on unscrupulous credit card companies. Student government has requested the administration put new policies in place to limit solicitations from credit card companies, whether in person or by mail. This at first glance may look like a limitation on free speech. But until students are more thoroughly educated on the importance of paying their bills on time, avoiding late fees and not paying off one credit card with another credit card, and as long as they are being slammed by multiple credit card offers, the credit crisis will continue.
The student government also wants EOU to limit the information on students it gives out. That way, student government leaders say, credit card companies can’t flood mailboxes with offers that at first look enticing but later can get the unwary stuck in an ever more complicated credit trap.
EOU is currently referring to the Oregon University System legal counsel to see what limitations can legally be put in place on credit card solicitation. One way or another, it’s important these days that universities do a thorough job of educating students on how to be savvy consumers. That way a quality education can once again mean economic opportunity. And it’s credit wisdom students can take with them for a lifetime.
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Opinion 
