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03/09/2009 -
Many businesses located near college towns understand the importance of accepting credit cards, as the large number of students who use credit cards would represent lost sales if the merchant did not have payment card processing capabilities.Yet recent research from the U.S. Education Department demonstrates just how important credit card acceptance is to merchants that serve college students, as the current generation of students has become more dependent on loans and borrowing than ever.
The Education Department found that federal student-loan disbursements in the 2008-2009 academic year grew by 25 percent compared to the previous year, representing an increase of $75.1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
As the economy remains weak and prices continue to rise, today's college students have turned to credit more so than any other generation, said the Journal.
Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com, told the news provider that "growth in student lending can remain very strong, at least through the next school year."
As students are increasingly turning to lending options such as loans and credit cards, the importance of accepting payment cards has never been higher, especially for merchants who count students as one of their primary customer segments.
