Problem with plastic

Just charge it.

This common phrase has experts across the country worrying about the weighty consequences of young customers with credit cards who have already begun to accumulate debt. The bigger problem, however, is the lack of knowledge surrounding credit.

Research shows that about 70 percent of college students have stopped at credit card tables on their campuses to sign up for cards, United States Public Interest Research Group higher education program Director Christine Lindstrom said.

"At those tables, usually freebies are offered to sign up for credit cards," she said. "It's hard enough when you're just getting started; you don't need to have the distraction tactics set up to make it more difficult."

Part of being a good consumer is separating good debt from bad debt, or necessary debt from extraneous debt, Consumer Credit Counseling Service spokesman Scott Scredon said.

"Good debt is things that would enable you to invest in your future, such as your education," he said. "Spending money on [credit cards] for vacations or things that are not necessities is bad debt."

Scredon described credit cards as a short-term loan that can become a long-term loan if the consumer is not careful of spending within their means.

"Nobody ever got wealthy by borrowing money to pay for clothes or restaurants or entertainment," he said. "You really want to ask yourself the question: do I really need this?"

Bill Hardekopf, CEO of lowcards.com, a consumer resource site that offers information and comparisons for different credit cards, said credit card companies are specifically targeting college students.

"Credit card marketers go after college students in a tremendously aggressive way," he said. "Because so many college students are naive and unfamiliar with how credit cards work and their perils, they are particularly susceptible to the strategies these marketers have when it comes to students."

Hardekopf said students' disposable income and the security that comes from their parents are a factor in the high lines of credit that are sometimes extended to students.

"Issuers realize that if a student gets into trouble, a parent will bail that student out, because they don't want to see little Johnny or Mary have their credit ruined," he said.

Various organizations have been making an effort to increase the public's financial literacy. The American Bankers Association, for example, has launched two educational websites -- GetSmartAboutCredit.com and

CardPolicyInfo.com -- to explain legislature involving the credit card industry and decipher the fine-print jargon found at the bottom of credit card contracts. USPIRG also has an ongoing campaign called The Truth About Credit, which can be found at thetruthaboutcredit.com.

The best way to deal with accumulated credit card debt, however, is to stop spending and start paying, Lindstrom said.

"Stop using the card," he said. "Cut it up. Do what you can to stop using it entirely, and make more than the minimum payment every month . . . never stop paying."