LESS BAD DEBT AT UNIVERSITY

Southeast Missouri State University has drastically reduced the amount of students' bad debt that it writes off each year. The turnaround should earn kudos for university budget crunchers. In the past four years, student debt has fallen to just $58,000 from $360,000.

University officials credit an aggressive collection effort for much of the turnaround. The university also starting offering a more flexible payment schedule for students, and it allowed education bills to be paid by credit card.

Paying by Visa or MasterCard may not be the best idea for students financially. Many will learn quickly that credit cards are easy money that is hard to repay. However, the bill collection then becomes the credit-card company's concern rather than the university.

One can't blame the university for offering the credit-card option. This has become a credit-card society, and most essentials can be charged with plastic cards today. Credit remains only one of the university's payment options.

Reducing student debt is more than just a feel-good budget number. Bad student debt diminishes the university's undesignated fund balance, which is the university's rainy day fund for budget emergencies.

In 1991, the fund operated $584,000 in the red. Today, it is $1 million in the black. This improvement is a credit to budget-minded university officials.