By Emily Schoch | Staff Writer
Navigating the world of credit can be overwhelming for college students, but Baylor is offering a way to make it easier.
The Understanding Credit and Credit Cards Workshop aims to equip students with essential financial knowledge from building a strong credit score to avoiding common pitfalls with credit cards. Experts will break down key concepts, answer questions and provide practical strategies to help students make informed financial decisions.
On Monday Jason Rounke, program manager for student financial wellness, spoke to Baylor students at the workshop. Rounke told students how to grow and protect their credit score while being in college.
Rounke will be hosting the same financial wellness workshop from noon to 12:45 p.m. this Wednesday and Thursday in the Claypool room on the third floor of the SUB.
While attending these workshops, students will learn how credit scores are determined and their importance, the best practices for responsible credit card use, strategies for establishing and maintaining good credit as well as common mistakes to avoid when using credit cards.
Rounke said a big misconception about credit cards is how one should pay them off.
“The biggest [misconception] is that you have to carry a balance in order to build your credit, and that is not true,” Rounke said. “You have to use the credit that is offered to you, but it’s best if you can pay it off in full at the end of each month. So as long as the charges are billed and you pay that off at the end of the month that means you’re not accruing any interest, but the credit card company is still giving you credit for using credit.”
A strategy Rounke said he recommends for students trying to build their credit is to get a secured credit card.
“Secured credit cards are great for college students because you don’t have to have any credit established in order to get it,” Rounke said. “So what you’re doing with the secured credit card is you’re putting down your deposit into a checking account at a bank [about $500] and then the bank loans you your $500, and as you are repaying those monthly charges then you are building your credit.”
Rounke said there are many important factors to look out for when comparing credit card offers, including avoiding high hidden fees or interest rates.
“The most important factors for college students [when] using credit cards [is] probably to avoid fees, like an annual fee, which is a big one,” Rounke said. “A lot of the nicer credit cards with better benefits are going to have an annual fee, and you need to weigh whether or not the annual fee is going to be worth the benefits. Another fee or credit that college students want to avoid is an international transaction fee if you’re doing any international travel.”
Schertz sophomore Tristan Demotica is a money management coach with the financial wellness center. Demotica said that the financial wellness center is passionate about students becoming financially literate while pursuing undergraduate degrees.
“I think the biggest vision is having students be more financially literate, and what that means is students being able to understand where their money is going, where it’s coming from and how to have a plan to tackle it each month,” Demotica said.
Demotica said that after students attend a workshop they can book an appointment with a money management coach as a way to get one-on-one support while learning how to manage finances.
“The vision with these presentations is [for students to] find out that they have a need to learn more about financial wellness,” Demotica said. “So they can come in and book an appointment with one of us coaches and really figure out their financial life before they start real life.”
