With the economy as bad as it is, a large concerted effort has arisen to determine the root causes and help find solutions to the severe downturn we are experiencing. One area of major concern is credit card debt which troubles the real world and has long been a sensitive issue in the academic setting.

UK and Chase Bank, as with many other universities and credit card companies, have a partnership that allows Chase to advertise on campus and at sanctioned events. There are also local vendors like Papa John’s that work with credit card companies to solicit their seemingly endless credit to newly emancipated teens seeking to experience the total liberty of independence from mommy and daddy through things like free T-shirts and pizzas. And when irresponsible children are allowed to run up high credit limits, the economy is going to get worse, right?

Math and physics senior Patrick Baker said, “I only spend with money I have,” and it appears that an increasing amount of students are turning away from credit in a similar manner as students are not contributing to as much of the credit card debt crisis one would assume.

In total, Americans have about $900 billion in credit card debt according to the Federal Reserve, with the average household lugging around $8,700. According to Wednesday’s Kernel, in 2000, 56 percent of students had a credit card in their own name and now that number is down to 34 percent. Similarly, the average balance cardholders carried dropped from $645 to $452 between 2006 and 2008.

For students, the main debt issue is student loans, which make up the vast majority of the debt taken on as a student.  However, credit cards still hold huge financial implications specifically with building personal credit history. One way UK can provide a counterbalance to distributing names and allowing sponsors on campus would be to offer a University Studies Program course to help with financial literacy. This way, students are not only being given responsibility, but also being taught about interest rates, fine print and all of the other major concerns that go along with a credit card.

Providing students with the knowledge that they are on solicitation lists would be another step in the right direction. Disclosure is never a bad thing and most students probably do not realize that the never-ending flow of junk mail in the form of credit card applications comes from simply being registered at UK.

It appears that slowly, but surely, students are starting to understand the responsibility of credit cards, but there still has to be preparation for the great responsibility that comes along with credit.