Group will visit YSU, teach 'financial fitness'

Volunteer CPAs will be at YSU on Friday to offer financial advice to students.
By HAROLD GWIN
Vindicator education writer
YOUNGSTOWN -- It's no secret that college students are a major target market for credit card companies.
Students are getting bombarded with credit card offers that seem too good to pass up, but not everyone has the financial expertise to control their use of the cards and some wind up overspending.
The average outstanding balance on undergraduate credit cards was $2,169 in 2004, according to a Nellie Mae Education Foundation study.
The figures are worse for graduate students, who had an average credit card debt of $7,800.
The Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants, which launched a "Financial Fitness Ohio" initiative in November, includes a "Financial Fitness Ohio College Days" component in its program.
Volunteer members of the organization are visiting college campuses to help raise awareness of financial literacy and personal financial management skills.
Youngstown State University is the next stop on the list, and four local CPAs as well as a YSU accounting student have volunteered to staff a Financial Fitness Ohio booth from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday in Kilcawley Center.
They will distribute "Financial Fitness Ohio Workout Guides" offering some assistance to concerned students, said Karen West, manager of financial literacy and student initiatives for the Ohio Society of CPAs.
Program's goal
"There's been a great response from the students," West said, noting that booths have already visited Xavier, Ohio State, Kent State and Bowling Green universities. The program hopes to visit 20 schools by the end of the spring term, she said.
So many students graduate from college already saddled with credit card debt and poor credit ratings, West said. Many who visit the booths don't understand the interest rates on their credit cards and how they are applied to their debt, West said.
Booth visitors take a quick financial "true or false" quiz, which is graded by one of the volunteers who then reviews the information in the workout guide with the student.
That packet contains information on making smart financial decisions regarding credit cards as well as about savings, creating a monthly budget and making spending decisions.
Students need some expertise on their side, said Carol Topp, a CPA from Cincinnati, who volunteered at the Xavier booth. The other side already has a strong lobby, she said, noting that some credit card companies pass out T-shirts to students as an enticement to get them to sign up for credit cards.
West said more personal financial management information is available on the society's Web site at www.financialfitnessohio.com.
gwin@vindy.com