It?s the beginning of a new college semester, and students are paying their tuition and buying books. With so much to pay for, students often find themselves in debt quickly ? but luckily there are plenty of vendors on campus ready to peddle a way out of that debt through the extension of credit.

Unfortunately, a large number of students who get credit cards end up in serious debt by the end of their four years. A bill introduced this year could help students by preventing credit card companies from taking advantage of students. The Consumer Credit Protection Act should be passed with full support in order to help unknowing students from making poor decisions.

This is not to say that college students are idiots, but the fact that one-fifth of the nation?s college students have credit-card debts of more than $10,000 says a great deal about how unprepared and uneducated students are to properly budget their resources their first years at college.

Many students unknowingly charge many things to their cards without realizing the fees and interest incurred. Many students are also not used to budgeting and are unprepared for the stack of expenses they face in college.

The Consumer Credit Protection Act recently introduced by Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter, proposes limiting college students? credit lines to not exceed 20 percent of the student?s gross income. Such an act would protect students, especially freshmen, from making decisions too rashly. Such decisions are made often when students are lured into filling out sometimes more than six credit card applications in a day by the promise of free stuff, such as Oakley sunglasses or T-shirts.In the meantime, students should educate themselves of the potential problems inherent with acquiring credit, and universities should take steps to limit and regulate the credit vendors on campus.