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calquist

January 2, 2009 4:02 PM

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My University has a sponsor with US Bank (aka the Devil) and as an orientation leader I could literally hear the lies that the bank employees were telling students (free ATM withdrawals, etc), but in return US Bank paid the cost for all the student IDs for all students (the upwards of $1,000,000) so there was nothing my boss could do to get things changed except to have someone standing by the US Bank table babysitting and listening in to make sure they were telling the truth.

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pollyannacowgirl

January 2, 2009 4:11 PM

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Oh, are universities supposed to be looking out for students' best interests?

Personally, I see the whole univerity education system the way I see corporations. They're greedy and self-serving. They are selling a product. Their primary purpose is profit and prestige.

So no, I'm not shocked at all that they're trying to make money from the people they're making money from!

5 replies

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January 2, 2009 8:39 PM

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@pollyannacowgirl: Don't be fooled. Education is most definitely a huge part of Big Business.

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January 2, 2009 7:04 PM

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@pollyannacowgirl: You statement might be true for private schools, but public schools are beholden to the people (via the Board of Regents, appointed by the governor). Sure, private schools are indeed selling a product. Public schools are supposed to be offering education to the taxpayer.

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Xkeeper

January 2, 2009 7:31 PM

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@lincolnparadox:

This is discussing colleges/universities, of which I have still never seen one that does not charge a tuition.

Granted, I haven't seen many, but these are all official schools of the city/county/state.

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OmniZero

January 2, 2009 4:26 PM

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@pollyannacowgirl: Unfortunately the product they sell has been integrated in our society in such a way where if you didn't buy the product, then you're dumb as bricks. Obviously.

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rpm773

January 2, 2009 4:18 PM

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@pollyannacowgirl: They're looking out for the students' best interests like a farmer looks after his cows' best interests.

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negative-ground

January 2, 2009 4:11 PM

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I remember getting a Discover Card with a $1500 limit while in my second year of college when I was 19 and making about $60/month making pizzas. I guess I was sort of a poster child as I carried a $500 balance for what seemed like forever until I got my first real job. Then paid it off and learned never to carry a monthly balance. I am no fan of credit card companies, but it did teach me responsibility. If you think you should be maxing out credit cards when you make $60/month you are just retarded.

5 replies

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MorelOrelHershiser

January 2, 2009 4:22 PM

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@negative-ground: While I do not disagree with what you have to say, is it necessary to use a term commonly associated with the handicapped or special needs to make your point? This is the same as using racism to make a point, only many of those you are offending aren't as capable of making a stand.

think before you speak. I am certainly not politically correct, but calling things \"retarded\" is just irresponsible.

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negative-ground

January 2, 2009 9:13 PM

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@MorelOrelHershiser: Oh come on language police. Merriam-Webster defines retarded as \"slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress.\" I stand by my post. I think you are reading more into it that may reveal your own issues.

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batsy

January 2, 2009 7:41 PM

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@MorelOrelHershiser: So is using the word \"gay\" to mean \"stupid\" any better, or is that simple word evolution, like everyone rationalizes it?

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January 2, 2009 4:54 PM

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@MorelOrelHershiser: i see what you did there \"making a stand\"

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calquist

January 2, 2009 4:31 PM

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@MorelOrelHershiser: Major props, Morel.

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loganmo

January 2, 2009 4:14 PM

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I went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The UW system is considered part of the WI state government, which has some of the loosest open records laws in the nation (which is typically a good thing). You could buy the entire student roster for like $50, which could contain around 40,000 contacts depending on the size of the student body at that time.

3 replies

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downwithmonstercable

January 2, 2009 4:40 PM

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@loganmo: That's sickening that a uni would sell their student's info like that just to make a quick buck.

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loganmo

January 2, 2009 5:00 PM

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@downwithmonstercable:

The University was not trying to make a quick buck. The information was considered a public record, which as a government entity, was required to furnish to anyone making a written request for it. The $50 or so was to cover the cost of collecting and producing the data.

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loganmo

January 2, 2009 4:14 PM

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@loganmo:
I should add that the school would let you opt out, but then you would not be listed in the university directory.

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January 2, 2009 4:16 PM

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Credit cards are a valuable lifeline for college students, who often use them to buy essentials like textbooks and food. Consumer advocates like to trot out bimbos who went out and purchased clothing, but I'd argue those types are beyond saving anyhow. Credit serves an incredibly valuable function on campus, where students combine a very reasonable expectation of repayment with a crying need for liquidity. It's the perfect market, and with a few exceptions credit card companies have a mutually beneficial relationship with students.

11 replies

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January 2, 2009 7:20 PM

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@ADismalScience: how about we just work on reasonable costs for eduation and related items like textbooks and lab materials? when it's pushing $20k for resident tuition at a state university (plus $1000 and up for text books that HAVE to be repurchased every semester without buybacks because a new edition came out) i'd say the problem is more in the schools and less in the credit card companies. maybe schools shouldn't be so excited to decimate their students' bank accounts.

or maybe we should just do the smart thing and socialize education so paying for things like food while going to school wouldn't be such a difficulty.

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batsy

January 2, 2009 7:48 PM

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@katylostherart: I agree, we should treat the cause, not the symptoms.

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Xkeeper

January 2, 2009 7:38 PM

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@katylostherart:

SOCIALIST COMMIE!@(*%&!@%(*

Actually, that's a very good fucking question. Why the hell haven't we made higher education available to everybody? Perhaps require a basic aptitude test before admittance to demonstrate that a person has the basic skills needed to continue in this (e.g., basic math).

It would certainly fix a very large amount of these problems, especially if they bothered to do something about the textbook scam market. Seriously, $200+ for a textbook? What the hell?

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January 2, 2009 5:12 PM

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@ADismalScience: And I guess you were also in favor of payday loan companies charging poor people 300% interest, too.

The bottom line is, credit card companies have no business handing out credit lines to people who have no means of repaying it. Period. These people are being taken advantage of, and if you can't see that, I guess you are the one for whom there is no hope of redemption.

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January 2, 2009 5:22 PM

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Payday loans aren't an acceptable analogy. Credit cards for students aren't charging 300% interest, are provided to those who have a reasonable expectation of enhanced future cashflow, and have safeguards ($2500 caps as in the OP) to prevent ridiculous overextension. Students have a means to repay - but for the most part they need to defer even the most basic living expenses until after graduation. For students with limited time to work and few other cash resources at home, credit cards present a reasonable means to access liquidity with supervised limits.

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January 2, 2009 7:07 PM

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@ADismalScience: Personally, I'm using a Fraud Alert service (like LifeLock) to snap my kid's credit closed until they graduate from college.

I'll teach them responsibility myself. I don't need a CC company to do my job as a parent.

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downwithmonstercable

January 2, 2009 4:31 PM

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@ADismalScience: That is true, but probably 75% of people I went to college with and people I know now that are in college didn't use them as a lifeline, they became more of a second source of \"income\" when the paycheck/check from parents/whatever didn't cover things like beer or concert tickets or whatever. Kids just out of highschool for the majority are not mature enough to really understand what it is they're taking on with a credit card. I'm not one for regulation on this type of stuff, but it seems to me that schools should really be more careful with their partnerships.

This reminds me of schools that are trying to get kids to eat healthier, yet they have junk food vending machines everywhere. They justify it because they make money off it from the vendors. They know it's wrong, but the money keeps on coming in...

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batsy

January 2, 2009 7:45 PM

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@downwithmonstercable: As for your vending machine point, at the University of Minnesota they have vending machines everywhere but the snacks inside of them are about half crap and half healthy (vegetable chips and whatnot). They also offer healthy choices in the lunch room. I don't know about other universities, but as long as they are providing a choice, that should be enough. No one can force anyone to eat better.

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ShariC

January 3, 2009 4:54 AM

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@batsy: Vegetable chips and other seemingly healthy foods can be very bad for you. I didn't realize this until I picked up a bag of Japanese pumpkin and sweet potato chips thinking they'd be better than potato chips. About 1.5 ounces of these chips had 256 calories and about 16 grams of fat. (full details here: [japanesesnackreviews.blogspot.com])

All the processed stuff is pretty bad for you, even when it looks like it should be good.

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batsy

January 3, 2009 7:08 PM

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@ShariC: Well I didn't purchase any of the items in the vending machine to check their nutritional information, but when I get the chance I will. The U of M is still pretty good, they have a vegan selection in their cafeteria every day.

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January 2, 2009 4:39 PM

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@downwithmonstercable:

If we feel that children in college cannot make massive financial decisions involving huge quantities of debt, why have we constructed the student loan industry? 2600 in credit card debt spent on trifles seems like a pittance when you consider that it wouldn't pay for a semested in student housing at most colleges. It would scarcely cover a year in books!

People love to bitch about them, but they received educations - something inaccessible to generations before this one if you were too poor to pay yourself. Debt is not inherently bad. The fact that college kids use debt to finance essentials and minor entertainment seems like a good thing to me. They're likely to graduate and repay it easily, and I know that paying off my student CC debt was my first lesson in fiscal prudence. Debt's out there for adults, and nothing teaches like a controlled experiment in college.

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January 2, 2009 9:11 PM

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@ADismalScience: They are likely to graduate and repay it easily?
I don't buy that one. I was wise enough to pay off my credit card debt BEFORE I graduated from college. Reason being, I KNEW I wouldn't be able to pay it off after I was out of school.
I am now beholden to the student loan companies and if I had to combine what I owe them each month with an additional credit card payment I don't know what I would do.
This will take me into an argument about student loans which I think are FAR worse than credit card companies...but I digress.

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downwithmonstercable

January 2, 2009 4:49 PM

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@ADismalScience: I know what you're saying. I just think the problem is that students go from living at home, all expenses paid (stereotypically) and are suddenly put into a situation where suddenly they have to manage their own expesnses and figure out how to live. I think giving them a free ticket to credit is the wrong way to teach that lesson.

I think student loans are a much different caliber of credit. I think students better understand the costs and the purpose of those loans. They are for college and covering college expenses. Credit cards on the other hand, we swipe them at stores without a second thought. If you swipe without really knowing what that means (paying interest, putting yourself in debt, having to repay debt) it can lead to a lot of trouble. And by having universities promote student debt like that I believe is wrong. Students can go get cards if they wish, but having vendors setup shop at a football game and give away T-shirts as \"prizes\" for opening up a card is shameful.

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January 2, 2009 4:53 PM

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@downwithmonstercable:

Shameful how? As I've said, students use credit cards for essentials - food, textbooks, basic supplies, etc. They have little income and have needs that often exceed what they can reasonably earn at part-time jobs. Given the reasonable expectation that a college student will go on to gain full-time employment is seems completely acceptable to give them $2500 in credit to get started with.

Debt is not inherently evil, not even credit card debt. Credit cards serve a valuable function on campus, \"shady\" marketing be damned.

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January 2, 2009 4:30 PM

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@ADismalScience: problem is they're selling student information to gain profit from it while also trying to maintain their prestige.

Last I looked selling information was considered not prestiges.

so while i agree that some students use credit cards for things they deem important. I would argue that colleges should be subsiding their costs to the students by the information they are selling. Instead of increasing their tuition and fees.

Do not even get me started on books which are a huge scam. Some professors are required to tell you to buy them by the school. So many of them hardly use the books. these books costs in the hundreds depending on your major. we should start student advocate groups against the outrages prices books costs these days.

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j-o-h-n

January 2, 2009 4:43 PM

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@Skankingmike:
Prestige, not really.
Selling? Well, sort of.
Many state schools (including the one I work for) are required by Open Records laws to make student \"directory info\" (excepting those who specifically opt out) available at cost (i.e., not much).

And if you know your way around an online directory service, you can get it for free.

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January 2, 2009 10:36 PM

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State schools are some of the biggest scam artist when it comes to money. They should be next to nothing to attend as they are paid for by state funds. It's not the student's fault that the funds for the schools are misappropriated.

Personally the whole college degree is a scam, just like credit cards. Remember when we had apprenticeships and only some people went to college? The world was fine. Now college is like high school 2.0 worthless drivel pumped out from professors many whom are simply adjuncts and after 4 years (or more as recent studies show) students come out with massive debt and next to no experience. College grads are worse off than people strait out of high school were 20-30 years ago.

sorry rant off

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January 5, 2009 8:42 PM

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@Skankingmike: I agree. College should be reformed. We need to cut the crap/gen-ed and let students choose what they want to major in and get out. 2-3 years max. Otherwise, get out there and get a darn job. Working never killed anyone. My husband never completed college and the work experience he gained in the meantime was infinitely more valuable than the garbage I had to take that was completely unrelated to my field. And yet...people are snobbish about having a Bachelors. That's messed up.

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February 2, 2009 5:25 AM

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@laughladyXD: companies are snobbish about the \"paper\" as well. plenty of employers have made being \"papered\" a condition of advancement.

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OmniZero

January 2, 2009 4:28 PM

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@ADismalScience: Should we give them credit for Textbooks? Those are price gouged any way most of the time. You're right about the bimbos, though. \"OMG CLOTHING!!!\" \"OMG I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT!?!?!?!?!\"

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paco

January 2, 2009 4:18 PM

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Um, I need to nitpick this one...

You're referring to Michigan State, but you're using a picture of the University of Michigan stadium. Different schools...

2 replies

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mitten

January 3, 2009 6:12 PM

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And the yellow area on the left is all students, but the less yellow area on the right is the general public.

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Anonymous

January 2, 2009 7:55 PM

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@paco: I saw that picture and thought the exact same thing. Granted I'm a University of Michigan alum and Michigan State is one of our rivals... but still. People outside the state need to understand, they're not the same thing. Maize and blue ≠ green and white.

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January 2, 2009 4:20 PM

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I always ignored the credit card hawkers. I had enough school shirts.

I did get my first credit card near the end of college, something which should probably be encouraged, since companies are allegedly more willing to take a credit risk on a collegian. But it shouldn't be for a free T-shirt.

And if you're irresponsible with it while in college, you're effed. Especially if you have trouble finding a job after college and/or your parents cut you off in college.

1 replies

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Adah

January 3, 2009 11:55 PM

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@lalaland13: I always gave out false information so I could get the free t-shirt or towel.

I mean, what? No I didn't, I totally wouldn't do something illegal for a Milwaulkee Brewers T-shirt...

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negative-ground

January 2, 2009 4:21 PM

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As a graduate, I am more bothered by telephone/mail solicitations to join my school's alumni association. OK...The University of Texas at Arlington is a fine institution (for engineers), it's just not terribly prestigious. The time/money spent soliciting graduates would be better spent serving current students/faculty.

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Lucas Keene

January 2, 2009 8:27 PM

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@negative-ground: Agreed. I graduated from GWU nary 2 1/2 years ago and they've been hitting me up weekly since the market tanked in October.

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wgrune

January 2, 2009 4:46 PM

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@negative-ground:

Agreed. I allready spent over $50k to get an education from you guys now why would I voluntarilly give you more so you can pay to cover up the lastest misdeeds or various collegiate atheletes.

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TechnoDestructo

January 3, 2009 3:45 AM

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Unless the number you gave is invalid as an SSN, I think you committed \"synthetic identity theft.\" Now your fake name could be an alias on someone else's report.

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downwithmonstercable

January 2, 2009 4:23 PM

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Chris I'm so glad you're back, this is the type of stuff I like reading on here.

2 replies

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January 2, 2009 4:26 PM

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@downwithmonstercable: Now if I could just get my colleges sorted out...

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downwithmonstercable

January 2, 2009 4:34 PM

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@Chris Walters: I think we'll let that slide, you're a newb again :)

BTW is that monkey avatar the monkey from Three Sheets?

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January 2, 2009 4:24 PM

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They had booths set up around the beginning of the school year every year at my college. I ignored them, and all the sketchy credit card offers that came into my mailbox. Sorry, but college kids are old enough to know better. If you're smart enough to get into college, you should be smart enough to realize credit cards aren't free money.

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Jaynor

January 2, 2009 4:26 PM

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I used to fill these out with false information just to get the 3-liter of pop.

Address:
1313 Elm Street, Emerald City OZ 69696

Income: -$14,000 a year (this part was true due to my student loans exceeding my income).

Funnily enough - none of the people checking to make sure I filled it out completely caught that OZ wasn't a state abbreviation.

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slim150

January 2, 2009 4:30 PM

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as an undergrad i signed up for one of these for the shirt- but put a fake name. but somehow they must of gotten my real name because now on my credit report that fake name comes up as an alias lol..

2 replies

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January 2, 2009 6:33 PM

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@slim150: You really gave your real SSN but a fake name? That's like emailing Nigeria your CC # but not telling them what animal is on the front.

I used to give fake info for free pizzas in college (there's a time and a place for everything, including lying for pizza), but I always gave my student ID shortened to fit. They would quiz people on the SSN and this was the easiest way to pass.

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humphrmi

January 2, 2009 6:03 PM

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but somehow they must of gotten my real name

If you used your real SSN, they reported the name as an alias for that SSN.

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chiieddy

January 2, 2009 4:32 PM

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I believe getting a credit card in college, using it once a year for a small purchase, and paying it in full is important to get a credit rating going for when you leave college and need something, like a mortgage.

Granted, it's bad that colleges aren't required to teach a personal finance course in order to allow the students to get the card. I was required to take public speaking in college, why not personal finance?

2 replies

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January 2, 2009 5:25 PM

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@chiieddy: A business class was required at the community college I went to but not personal finance, although they did have some personal finance stuff in that class. The checkbook balancing stuff we learned in high school.

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January 2, 2009 5:21 PM

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@chiieddy: Personal finance would probably do wonders. I'm an Econ major, and I'm seriously surprised at the number of people in my field that can't even balance their checkbook.

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Sunny Yeung

January 2, 2009 4:35 PM

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\"Badly needed funds\" could be obtained by diverting some of the athletics revenue to academics. My school's athletic department apparently likes to hog up the school's resources during home games and not give back.

2 replies

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CaptZ

January 2, 2009 4:50 PM

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Or an even better idea....get rid of the sports programs themselves saving hundrends of millions of dollars. Take it even further and get rid of sports in ALL public schools, except for PE. Being from Texas, sports in schools seem to gain more glory than the academics. Something is seriously wrong when schools are begging for money to buy new computers and academic equipment yet have a overpriced new football stadium paid for by the taxpayers and bonds. Not too mention teachers pay is so low.

Your child want to play sports? Take it after school leagues and pay for it yourself. Don't use my taxes for it.

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nybiker

January 2, 2009 7:38 PM

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@CaptZ: I'm with you CaptZ. How about we get rid of all the bowl games with their corporate names? And that includes the Rose Bowl (they only have a presenting sponsor (the good folks at Shitty) and not a title sponsor, but it still qualifies as a corporate event). It amazes me that the players can't get any money while they are students but yet are required to wear the corporate moniker of the 'sponsor' on their uniforms. Talk about hypocritical!

/end of naming rights rant.

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January 2, 2009 4:38 PM

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God, These guys lived at VCU outside the student commons. A lot of students would roll right by BUT on hot days they had cute girls with cold sodas so you know they got accounts.

I remember signing up for one to get a shirt and laughed about it as I had plenty of credit and a good job. A couple of years later I lost my sense of humor as I read my credit report while buying a house and had to close a lot of \"odd accounts\".

Its not a bad thing though as you will learn a lot about companies through this. I learned Chase and Citibank were not to be dealt with and Fleet was crooked along with MBNA. They liked to change rates on a whim.

Now after all those options I still use the same 2 companies I have had since high school: USAA and my credit union. Thats it. They treat me great and I dont have to watch for quick changes.

V

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paco

January 2, 2009 5:46 PM

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@vdragonmpc: For the record, VCU can't do anything about those guys, unfortunately. Same as they can't do anything about the preachers on Shafer Court. It's considered public property.

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January 2, 2009 6:25 PM

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Actually they are not allowed IN the commons or on certain sections of campus.

(Its been a while for me but back in the day Chase set up in the commons)

I have seen them in front of the library, commons, hibbs and the business building. I dont know what they do at MCV.

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paco

January 2, 2009 6:39 PM

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@vdragonmpc: Chase may have rented the space. That's why Wachovia and other off-campus vendors are allowed to set up inside. And that's why the tables you're referring to are always just outside the actually property on the sidewalks and public thoroughfares.

My office was right near there, and it was always a pain navigating the crowds angling for free \"College\" t-shirts.

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Anonymous

January 2, 2009 4:54 PM

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Sometimes it's not just the University that sells Student information either. When I was at school our Football team sold the student directory containing our school and home addresses to a telemarketing firm to earn money for new uniforms.

(The firm wasn't too bright though, they called every dorm room on campus for years offering to refinance our mortgages.)

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WakefulD

January 2, 2009 4:55 PM

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I got my credit card my third year of college and didn't use it until my fourth, when my paycheck and debit card weren't going to be enough to cover my plane ticket ride. I knew I'd be able to access savings when I got home, and although I use my card all the time I've never carried a balance or been charged a late fee. I set a budget and stick to it.

I don't know if it's the product of being the only child of single mother, but I've never been frivolous with my hard-earned money. It pains me when college students all get dumped under the same \"terrible with credit cards\" label.

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January 2, 2009 4:58 PM

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Good article , Chris. Also worth mentioning...

How the universities have now tied fees and refunds to a captive debit card with a certain bank or CC company that use the Visa/MC logo and force students to use these \"for their convenience\". I went through this little scam when my daughter started at Dalton State College here in Georgia. Basically,the card that they issue is a fee trap that will almost certainly trip up students (or their parents) while making the issuer (First Student Services) and their accomplices (the college) a lot of unearned money. I actually had a talk with the burser at the school about how patently anti-student this practice is and he basically , politely, told me to piss up a tree. These cards also have the effect of shaping habits for newly emancipated students (pay with the card,it's not money going out of your pocket) and works to condition them to accept getting in over their heads in hock to CC companies.

Lessons learned :

1) Teach your freshman son/daughter BEFORE they leave home that these companies are lying,evil scum. They are greedy bastards that will milk you dry and laugh at your misery.And those are the good ones.

2) Use a seperate checking account (without overdraft privelege) to link to these cards if there is no other alternative so that they cannot debit fees and charges that you don't specifically authorize. Believe me,they will clean you out fast. And good luck getting help from their \"education partner\"

3) Re- read number one. Lying . Greedy . Bastards.

1 replies

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January 2, 2009 5:08 PM

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Errata: It's a Higher One debit card , not First Stdent. That is another kid at another college.My bad.

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January 2, 2009 5:02 PM

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I'm sorry but I don't have much sympathy for students who get into credit card debt. I graduated in 04 with 0 debt while having 3 cards. My friends also had a few cards but didn't carry a balance either. It's a matter of self control and prioritizing.

1 replies

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Lucas Keene

January 2, 2009 8:32 PM

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@hypochondriac: And a matter of parents telling kids how to use a CC. My parents got me my first card when I was a sophomore in high school. I've never carried a balance and aside from student loans, carry no debt.

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Ein2015

January 2, 2009 5:26 PM

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I'm in college...

... but it was 0% interest for over a year that made me get my credit card, not some $5 tshirt.

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January 2, 2009 5:27 PM

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I think its more like making money off the parents of college students whom they know will run up a bill and then get their parents to bail them out and pay it off. Hey its all good if these students go out and buy a bunch of overpriced stuff then get their parents to bail them out, its good for the economy!

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January 2, 2009 6:41 PM

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@Outrun1986: In parts of my extended family, Santa Claus pays credit card debt for Christmas each year. Fortunately my parents never put up with that crap.

Santa should bring candy and toys, duh.

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jrizos

January 2, 2009 6:05 PM

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Bingo. That's exactly it. A total breakdown of communication and no oversight on their childrens' responsibility with their own SS#.

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Stephanie Young

January 2, 2009 5:29 PM

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I made the poor decision to sign up for a card to get a free sub at Quizno's. It was an outing! I never planned to use the card, and immediately cancelled it when I actually received it. I couldn't even tell you what the limit was. Now I realize how silly that was, and luckily my credit is just fine. I just got my first real credit card about 8 months ago, which I pay off in full every month. Good credit FTW.

That said, Visa Cloud loooooved calling MY DORM at 8 am Saturday mornings to offer me a card. Who had that phone number? My parents, friends, and MARY WASHINGTON. Got a good education, but had a crappy administration.

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MichClay

January 2, 2009 5:31 PM

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Being a recent graduate I know these \"$2500\" limits rarely go for emergencies. If you consider buying a round of shots at the bar or buying a new LCD TV at Best Buy an emergency, sure.

By the time someone goes to college they should know the dangers of credit cards, it's not some hidden code just revealed. If you are smart enough to get into college, you are smart enough to know that credit cards collect interest and if you don't pay off your balance you will fall further in debt.

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Benjamin Blackmer

January 2, 2009 5:54 PM

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I agree; please use the correct photo if you are referring to Michigan State.

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Adam Holcomb

January 2, 2009 6:48 PM

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When free stuff is offered for applying for a credit card, I just fill in information like Oscar T. Grouch with an address of 1 Sesame Street.

They don't process those forms there, they collect them and send them to someone else who does the data entry.

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savdavid

January 2, 2009 8:31 PM

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and spend years paying it off. Credit card companies don't give a dang about students. Don't think they are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. It is a gimmick to hook these young people into the habit of debt and accepting it as necessary.

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fuzzypuppy

January 2, 2009 8:49 PM

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I think that the article is trying to confuse 2 separate issues.

Yes, selling private student information to credit card companies is wrong and should be stopped. Privacy laws should be toughened.

However, offering credit cards to students is not. No one is forcing those students to apply. No one is forcing those students to spend frivolously and irresponsibly. It is a choice that they can make on their own.

University students are adults. If they don't know *anything* about financial responsibility by that time then they will be severely disadvantaged in life. The solution is not to delay financial education even further.

If their parents didn't take the time to teach them financial responsibility when they were young, the school of hard knocks has to take over.

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January 2, 2009 8:55 PM

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Whoa whoa whoa, just a freakin' second here. I will not argue that credit cards make it insanely easy to get buried under debt, but I fully believe that everyone is responsible for themselves and their own future.

No, I didn't know crap about my credit score or anything when I first entered college and I think it's terrible that colleges don't offer even an afternoon seminar on credit for the benefit of those who don't know. However, every college student has probably taken the SAT or whatever test and can do some pretty basic high school math. If spending > earnings you have a freakin' problem and that's no one's fault but your own.

As for the freebies, as I understand it, if you apply for the card and it has no annual or monthly fee and you cancel it, it dings your credit score for about 10 pts for a month or so. Please correct me if I'm wrong about the score bit, but I do know that no one has a gun to your head to sign up for the card or use it after you get it.

Also, these stories are always extremely misleading. I've had a credit card since my Junior year of college and have never paid a fee or anything. In fact, with points and garbage, I've actually made money not to mention don't have to carry nearly as much cash with me. The girl in the article who got a blanket for signing up for a credit card managed to rack up $30,000 in debt before filing for bankruptcy. I cannot even fathom how someone can do that. She's obviously an idiot who either has no self control or cannot do math.

In case my comment is tl;dr: I'm no fan of credit card companies and all of the crap they pull and how they jerk people around, but there are some great benefits to cards. It is 100% true that credit cards make it incredibly easy to get into debt, but ultimately it is your responsibility to manage your own finances. Your debt is your fault and your problem.

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January 2, 2009 9:40 PM

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I just started college this year and got a credit card as soon as I got a job in my new town. I got it through Citibank because of the cash back they offered with their student cards. I put down that I would make 8000 a year and I got a 3000 credit line. I think this is absolutely crazy because I can imagine a lot of kids just max that out and then are stuck in great debt for a long time.

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January 3, 2009 1:04 AM

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@treythalomew: Yes but you're smart enough not to even get close to that credit line. Just cause it's there doesn't mean you have to use it. Unfortunately, not as many freshmen are as smart about credit as you are. This isn't the credit card company's fault even though they profit off them. These kids should have their parents, siblings, or schools talk to them about this cryptic stuff.

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January 2, 2009 11:44 PM

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I pulled one of my free credit reports a couple weeks ago and found that Suntrust, who runs the FSUCard program, a debit-ish card that links to a Suntrust account which is the ONLY way to get your financial aid electronically at FSU, opened a Mastercard account with credit shyster FIA Card Services, on my behalf, without my interest or direct consent.

The card sat there, with a $1000 credit limit, unused for almost eight years until I discovered it just now. I called and had it canceled, which was no difficulty, but I can't begin to imagine what would've happened if I had discovered that in my younger days and gone shopping with it when I had lost my job for a year.

I'm still pretty damn upset about it being started up without any word from me. I honestly wonder how many others this happened to.

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January 4, 2009 3:07 PM

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The limit may be capped, but once they hit the limit and can't pay the minimum the balance skyrockets with over limit fees, late fees, and finance charges.

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January 5, 2009 5:22 PM

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I got one credit card when I was in the military, I still have it and it is my only one and it's limit is only $1000.00 I have no desire to get another one. If college students are stupid enough to max out on credit card debt that is their fault.

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jcargill

January 6, 2009 5:24 PM

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\"So? They're not my kids!\"

-Mr. Potter
Bedford Falls, NY

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