Students at Hillcrest School are getting a worthwhile real-life lesson in money management.

The miniature credit union being operated by students at Hillcrest School is more than a game.

Students aren’t using play money; they’re involved in a real monetary venture that should pay dividends for them in the years to come.

The Kansas Board of Regents has instituted new rules to limit when credit card companies can solicit on state university campuses. The steps were prompted, at least in part, by concern about how many university students are creating problem debt for themselves by using credit cards irresponsibly.

One has to think the students who participate in the Hillcrest School credit union will be less likely to take unhealthy credit habits with them to college.

The student credit union was created through the Free State Credit Union, which is paired with Hillcrest through the Lawrence Business/Education Partnership, a joint project of the Lawrence school district and the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. Credit union staff members helped students start the Hillcrest operation, and sixth-graders at the school share jobs at the branch outlet.

The Hillcrest credit union has 47 customers and more than $1,500. That’s quite a bit of money for a group of sixth-graders to handle, but the far greater investment is in the education youngsters involved in the operation receive. The credit union teaches obvious lessons in money management and mathematics while encouraging students to save money for purchases they want to make a principle on which some adults could use a remedial course.

Learning to handle money is a practical life skill, and sixth grade isn’t too early to start teaching the lesson. Congratulations to Free State Credit Union and Hillcrest School for pursuing this worthwhile project.