College is supposed to teach some life skills to students apart from their major, like critical thinking, a general understanding of the world they live in, an appreciation of others and how to function like an adult citizen in our society. Part of this is some general understanding of Economics. This includes foreseeing the consequences of economic actions, understanding the role of interest and debt.
Obviously, many Americans are not very good with the concept of debt and savings. But one could think this pertains to uneducated people. Not so apparently, according to an article in the Business Week that even claims that universities team up with credit card companies in trying to lure students into shady contracts. So much for leading by example.
Given that many universities cannot sustain themselves from tuition and state grants, I fully understand that they are looking into alternative sources of funding. One important source is alumni contributions, but screwing alumni like this is no long term solution. Much better would be to actually teach them to understand basic money management skills. They be more successful in life for it, and more grateful.
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