(TOPEKA, KS) - High school students in Great Bend and Ellinwood will re-learn their ABCs on Wednesday, January 23 when Michelle Kaberline, financial literacy coordinator with Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, CPA, office, visits their high schools. Only the ABCs they will be learning about won't be as simple as learning the alphabet was.
The soon-to-be college students and full-time employees will find out about the advantages and disadvantages of credit cards and receive advice on how to properly manage them responsibly in the ABCs of Credit Card finance class, presented by the Kansas State Treasurer's office and Sunflower Bank.
"This class is important for all Kansans, but especially young Kansans who are getting their first jobs and leaving home for college," Treasurer Jenkins said.
"The amount of debt our young adults are accumulating is startling," Treasurer Jenkins said. "Educating high school students about the pitfalls of credit card usage is an important step in securing a prosperous financial future for them."
Nellie Mae, a nationally respected student loan corporation, found that:
- One in three high school students carry credit cards, and even more have an ATM card. (Tomorrow's Money/The Bond Market Foundation)
- Nearly one-third (32%) of college students, when thinking about their freshman year, admit that they were "not at all" or "not very well prepared" for managing their money on campus. (Nellie Mae)
- Studies conducted in 2006 of 3 million young adults in their twenties found that late payments for their debts are rising and they are more likely to be late than other Americans at paying toward their debt. Nearly half of them have stopped paying their debt, forcing lenders to sell it to collection agencies, repossess vehicles and push the young adults into bankruptcy protection. (USA Today: Young & In Debt Series)
- Nearly two thirds (63%) of college undergraduates acquired their first credit card before age 19. (Nellie Mae)
- The American Bankruptcy Institute stated that in 2003 there has been a more than 50% increase in bankruptcies among people under age 25. (The American Bankruptcy Institute)
Kaberline is a guest speaker of Sunflower Bank's Community Ambassador Program, which is made up of a select number of high school seniors who attend sessions once a month for seven months. Session topics included financial basics, local government, economic development, and business leadership. At the end of each year's program, scholarships are awarded to three students based on their effort, participation, and work completed during the Community Ambassador program. The scholarships range in value from $250 to $1,000.
ABCs of Credit Card finance is distributed by the Kansas State Treasurer's office and developed by the Center for Student Credit Card Education, Inc., made possible by Citibank Credit-ED.
Jenkins, a former State Representative and Senator from Topeka, was re-elected to her second term as Kansas State Treasurer on Nov. 7, 2006. During her time as Treasurer, Jenkins has expanded investment options in Learning Quest and oversaw the re-bidding of the program, returned an average of $9 million a year in unclaimed property to Kansans, initiated multiple financial literacy programs, and eliminated the reliance on state general fund dollars to operate the office. She is a Certified Public Accountant and former small business owner.
