College Plastic

Many college graduates leaveschool with a mountain of credit carddebt in addition to what they owe onstudent loans (national average: about$17,000). Credit card issuers pushplastic on undergrads because theyknow that students are likely to run upbalances and incur interest charges,since they usually don't pay off theirentire balance every month. Parentsmay feel at a loss to stop such creditcard lunacy, but there are ways to help.Guide your college student toward alow-interest credit card with no annualfee, as opposed to one that provideslots of perks—students don't need anincentive to spend. To find a bank thatoffers low-interest cards to college students,go to Bankrate.com.