I came to Hampton University in Hampton, Va., as a guest lecturer to teach and talk about journalism. What I ended up discussing most was credit card debt.

So many of the students were concerned about the amount of credit card debt they had. Those who didn’t have a credit card were worried about their friends who did and were struggling to pay their bills every month.

Statistics support concerns

There is without a doubt a nationwide credit card crisis among college students.

According to an analysis by Nellie Mae, which provides federal and private education loans for undergraduate and graduate students and families, 13 percent of college students owe between $3,000 and $7,000 in credit card debt. Thirty-two percent of the students who applied for loans with Nellie Mae had four or more cards. And the students carried an average credit card balance of $2,700.

Just so you know, a student with a $2,700 balance can expect to pay more than $7,000 in interest (if the interest rate is 18 percent annually) in the time it takes (430 months) to pay off the card making the minimum monthly payment of 2 percent of the balance. Want to find out the true cost of making the minimum credit card payment? Try the calculator at www.bankrate.com.

Reasoning behind using credit cards

When I asked the students why they had a credit card, almost in unison they said they “needed” it for emergencies. They’ve been told, they also said, that using a credit card would help them learn to manage their money and establish a good credit history.

Let me address the first point.

What constitutes an emergency?

“In case my car breaks down,” one young woman said.

So I asked her how much she had charged for emergency car repairs. Just $80, she sheepishly admitted. The rest, hundreds of dollars, was for clothes, school supplies, eating out and other “stuff.”

Now let’s look at the second point, that credit cards help college students learn to manage their money.

“If you use a credit card, whose money are you managing?” I asked.

“Not yours,” one bright young man said. It didn’t surprise me that he didn’t have a credit card.

Having a credit card doesn’t teach you to manage money. It teaches you to be a debtor, and in many cases not a very good one.

What do you think happens when you get a lot of impressionable, brand-conscious young people together with little money-management experience, limited income and a credit card?

It’s unfortunate that credit card issuers are telling these children it’s a good thing to borrow other people’s money. But make no mistake about it, that’s borrowed money they (or their parents) have to manage to pay back.

By definition debt is a liability.

What was that last point? Oh yeah, students “need” to establish a good credit history.

Why?

“So we can get a house one day,” one of the students said.

“And when do you expect to buy a home?” I asked.

“Oh, not for a very long time,” said the young woman.

True, it is important to establish good credit to get a home, an apartment and even a job these days. However, college students have plenty of time once they have good jobs with good incomes to establish good credit histories. In fact, they will be better borrowers if at this stage in their life they learn first to manage their cash.

If all these students with credit card debt were instead charging just a few things and paying off the bill each month so as to avoid interest payments, perhaps I wouldn’t be so concerned. But that’s not what’s happening. Many of them are getting an “A” in spending and a “D” in the mechanics of saving.

This is the time in their lives when they should be learning that time is one of their most important assets. They should be learning that the earlier you start saving, the less you have to save and the more choices you have later in life.