You may already have a credit card, but if you don't, you can be sure there will be many opportunities to get one once you arrive on campus.
Many credit companies set up tables in the common areas of college campuses to encourage students to sign up for credit cards. Often, they give away trinkets such as T-shirts, water bottles, frisbees, coffee mugs, etc. in exchange for having you fill out an application. Sound easy? It is, but think twice before you do it.
Unfortunately, many of the credit cards offered on campus may not be a good value for students. According to a study conducted by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), students who obtain credit cards at campus tables have higher unpaid balances than those who do not. Carrying high, unpaid balances is one of the quickest ways to incur too much debt and fall behind in payments.
Opening a new credit card may seem like the last smart thing to do when faced with mounting credit card debt. In one case, however, this may make sense and wind up saving you a lot of money as well. This special exception is a credit card balance transfer, and is oftentimes available to anyone with a mailbox and social security number.
About secured loans: A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset (e.g. a car or property) as collateral for the loan, which then becomes a secured debt owed to the creditor who gives the loan. The debt is thus secured against the collateral — in the event that the borrower defaults, the creditor takes possession of the asset used as collateral and may sell it to satisfy the debt by regaining the amount originally lent to the borrower. From the creditor's perspective this is a category of debt in which a lender has been granted a portion of the bundle of rights to specified property. The opposite of secured debt/loan is unsecured debt, which is not connected to any specific piece of property and instead the creditor may satisfy the debt against the borrower rather than just the borrower's collateral.
