Packing your son or daughter for college can be full of mixed emotions. You’re sending a young adult into the world, but it only feels like yesterday when you held your child in your arms and were his only world.

While making sure your son or daughter has all the towels, clothes, computer equipment and supplies he or she will need for this upcoming semester, take some time to discuss financial issues with your children.

If you have a child entering college, chances are credit card offers have already popped in your mailbox with his name on the envelope. And those offers only grow once he is enrolled. Credit card offers come with promises of free T-shirts and donations to their college or university. The fact that your son or daughter only has a part-time job making pizza money won’t stop issuers from offering a credit line to your 18-year-old. The credit card companies know you’ll step in to help.

How serious are credit cards in college? Consider a 2004 study commissioned by Nellie Mae, which provides education financing for undergraduate and graduate educations. According to the study:

• A majority – 56% – of undergraduates say they received their first credit card at the age of 18.
• Undergraduate students selected their credit card vendor most often from direct mail solicitations. The second source was their parents’ recommendations.
• Of students having credit cards, 43% of undergraduate students had at least four credit cards.

Having a credit card is in and of itself not a problem, of course, but reckless spending is. According to the same 2004 Nellie May study, undergraduates with outstanding credit card balances averaged $2,169, which is a 7% decrease from three years prior. Almost a quarter of the undergraduates interviewed for the study say they have a balance of more than $3,000.

So what’s a parent to do? First, sit down and talk with your kids about budgeting before they leave for school. Include clothes, going out with friends, church retreats and other events in the budget. Warn them about the dangers of too much debt. Many employers run credit checks before hiring prospective employees. A low credit score, which can be caused by failure to pay the minimum payment or using too much of the available credit on a credit card (among other issues) could hurt their chances of being hired.

The best choice for college credit cards is to forego them completely. But, if your son or daughter decides to get a credit card, make sure he or she understands the importance of paying off the whole balance each month and not spending more than the budget allows.