SIERRA VISTA — The Cochise College Center for Lifelong Learning is offering a free class on Managing Credit and Avoiding Debt from 10 a.m. to noon March 29 at the Sierra Vista Campus Student Union.
The college’s community outreach center has partnered with Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona, which will have representatives at the event to show attendees where they can access credit reports for free, discuss the true cost of credit, and explain what can make credit scores go south. It’s the first time the area’s Better Business Bureau has worked with the college to present this workshop, but BBB has given this presentation numerous times in the area, primarily for soldiers on Fort Huachuca.
“We’ll do some real-life scenarios with the class, because we want it to be interactive,” said Kimberly States, president and CEO of the Southern Arizona Better Business Bureau. “Really, about 80 percent of what we do (at the BBB) every day, whether over the phone or at these workshops out in the community, is education — really empowering consumers to make wise purchases and protect themselves. That’s why we’re excited to bring this to the college.”
States said people utilize the Better Business Bureau’s free advising resources for all sorts of issues related to debt and credit. Oftentimes, she said, problems arise simply because of naivety and inexperience.
“This is something that’s not really taught in school, and it’s not usually something people think about going over with their kids,” she said. “And because nobody is putting it in front of them, it’s like a lot of things you learn in life: it’s the school of hard knocks. We don’t know until we have to learn from it.”
To register for the class, or for more information, call 515-5492 or email training@cochise.edu.
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