by Alison Storm | 07/30/10

A Canadian university says it will no longer let students pay tuition with credit cards. As of August 3, Kwantlen Polytechnic University says credit cards won't be an approved form of payment for registration fees and tuition. The school says eliminating fees associated with accepting credit cards will reduce operational costs, a $250,000 savings the school plans to pass on to the students, according to The Vancouver Sun. The new rule doesn't apply to International students. "It's a sensible thing. I think in this day and age everyone is concerned about paying fees, so if we're going to have to give up $250,000, our feeling is that we'd rather give it back to our students. I think in the long run, when the message is put out to students, they will get it pretty quickly," Joanne Saunders, director of marketing and communications, told The Vancouver Sun.

But the temptation for college students to sign up for their first credit cards will still be on campuses across the country. Students like Elisa Levinson say they're avoiding using plastic. She told the Daily Camera that she watched her brother make the mistake of using credit cards throughout his college career. "It was really a bad experience for him," Levinson told the reporter. "I feel like so many students are in the same boat as him. They just don't know what they're getting into and then they end up in debt."

Credit card companies are banned from soliciting offers to students on some college campuses. But it's still fairly accessible for most students. Other colleges offer classes and seminars about using credit cards wisely, including the University of Colorado at Boulder. "Financial decisions are largely left up to the students and their families," campus spokesman Bronson Hilliard told the DailyCamera.com. "It's hard to have a universal discussion with students about finances because their personal situations are so different. We expect the parents to send their student to us already having some of the basic knowledge about how to handle their finances."