12 Dec My college student has credit card debt. What should I do?

Q. I just learned my 21-year-old college student, who does not work and is in school, has two credit cards almost maxed out. I’m considering bailing them out but I don’t want there to be no consequences. How should I handle it? I don’t want them to have a bad credit score at the start of being an adult.
— Mom

A. Ouch.

This is a hard situation to navigate.

Being financially responsible is learned over time for some, and sometimes it takes a situation like this to understand the consequences, said Matt Rembish, a certified financial planner with OneDigital in Boonton.

The basic rule of financial responsibility is don’t spend more than you make, he said. Credit cards make it easy to do that with large credit limits, low minimum payments, and convenient tap to pay features.

“According to LendingTree, the average credit card interest rates are about 24%, so even cash back and points you receive on purchases, it most likely will cost you if you roll over credit card balances month to month,” he said.

Rembish said he agrees with where you’re coming from.

“I think it’s best if they don’t have a bad credit score out of the gate,” he said. “If you do bail them out, I think the first step is to have a conversation about how they got into this situation.”

You want to make sure that this isn’t a Band-Aid on their overall spending issue, he said.

You could come to an agreement where your child takes on a payment plan with you.

“In your conversation, I think it is worth showing them a minimum payment calculator for credit cards,” he said. “It will show you how many months it would take to pay off the credit card if they just paid the minimum payments, as well as how much interest they would pay over that time frame. These calculators are a powerful tool, and may put some things in perspective.”

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This story was originally published in December 2025.

NJMoneyHelp.com presents certain general financial planning principles and advice, but should never be viewed as a substitute for obtaining advice from a personal professional advisor who understands your unique individual circumstances.