Cherry Hedges, the Virginia Credit Union’s financial education director, noted that freshmen are coming into college a little more financially savvy these days. Still, they need a lot more financial training, including about budgeting and the ramifications of going into debt.

Choosing what kind of plastic a college-bound student should carry may seem like an easy decision to make after all the work it takes to pick a school. But a new law making it harder for students to get their own credit cards means most parents now have to choose whether to help their kids get one, or send them off with less flexible choices like debit or prepaid cards.

The Virginia State Board of Elections has approved new voter-residency rules that will allow college students to register at their campus addresses and clarify criteria for determining a voter’s eligibility to register in a particular locality. The unanimous vote by the three-member board Saturday capped a painstaking process that began in the spring, shortly after the General Assembly passed legislation requiring the board to develop uniform regulations for determining a voter’s residence.

Eighty-five percent of college students surveyed in an Associated Press-mtvU poll reported feeling stressed in their daily lives in recent months: Worries about grades, school work, money and relationships were the big culprits.

Young people are carrying a load heavier than they normally bear as they scatter from campuses, judging from an AP-mtvU poll that finds students anxious about their finances, job prospects and pressures facing their folks.