College students, flunking finance 101

Saturday, February 16th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Lawmakers arenâ€™t the only ones who have trouble with money; a number of students would probably flunk finance 101 - if only it was offered. The lack of financial education might be contributing to the growing number of bankruptcy cases among young adults.

News on Six reporter Emory Bryan has the story. Two college students represent two sides of the credit card problem among young adults - one is currently in debt - the other was in debt, but has managed to pay most of it off. Meredith Luschen, University of Tulsa: â€œAnd I'm down to one, but I definitely still have a balance on that one.â€ Stacy Bryza, University of Tulsa: â€œNow I only use it when I can pay it off.â€ And they're not alone - two thirds of college students have credit cards. The average balance is on the rise - now its $2,700 dollars - and more young adults are declaring bankruptcy - last year, 150 thousand people between 18-25.

â€œIt's a gold dollar.â€ And that's part of the reason for this bank tour - and brief bit of financial education for children. â€œWe got the penny, the nickel, the dime the quarter, what's next?â€ Children love to learn about money - but few parents ever bother to teach them - and there are no comprehensive classes on finances in most high schools. Anne Marie Brown, Spirit Bank: â€œIt's very rare that they focus on this area, and it's so important, especially when we're dealing with credit cards that teenagers are receiving at a very young age.â€

And that's the number one reason people end up at Consumer Credit Counseling of Tulsa. Maggie Hunton, Consumer Credit Counseling: â€œBy the time they get out of high school, if they haven't been given the opportunity to get credit, certainly if they go to college, it's going to be practically forced on them.â€ But these young students have gone into the vault - and looked around - they've worked in the drive thru - and they say they've learned a lesson about what to do with their money. Kids: â€œSave it for college.â€

Oklahoma is one of 18 states that has pending legislation to limit marketing of credit cards to college students - but no final rules have been produced.