Should Credit Card Companies Be Allowed on College Campuses?

Filed in archive Education on April 8, 2008

Every 6 months or so there are a handful of media articles about the scourge of credit card companies marketing their cards to defenseless college students who are willing to give up their futures for a free pizza coupon. Here's one of the latest articles from USA Today: Credit Cards Go After College Students.

Complicating the matter is the fact that many major universities have partnerships with credit card companies to market cards with the school's name and logo on the card. The schools get a commission when these cards are issued-some cards will be issued to alumni, but obviously many will be issued to students as well. So it's not just a case of greedy card companies preying on the young and innocent; the school makes money off the deal, too.

Should card companies be allowed on campus?

Unfortunately, it's an easy question to ask but impossible to answer. College students are adults, over the age of 18. Getting credit is not an illegal activity. No one has passed a law upping the credit age to 21 as they've done for alcohol consumption. (Although I wouldn't be surprised if a grandstanding politician suggests this.)

On the other hand, I slightly remember college, being broke, being willing to fill out a credit card application to get a free hat, and never thinking about it again until by some miracle I was approved and the card showed up in my mailbox. I had never wanted a card and wouldn't have actively sought it out, but-ahhhh!-there it was. I could buy whatever I wanted, and a substantial amount of one Spring Break ended up on it. I never went crazy, and did like having it as backup, but it always made me a little uneasy, knowing I had a debt. (And a debt that my hardworking parents didn't know about.)

Should the college have stopped me from getting that card? Or at least not helped the process along by prohibiting that sweet 24-year-old honey who talked me into applying from getting close enough to grab me as I moved between classes?

If I were the head of a college, I wouldn't let them on. I don't think credit cards are the root of all evil, but college is a vulnerable time in a lot of ways. Kids are on their own for the first time and don't always make the best decisions. There are many ways to market to college students without getting the privilege of camping out at the student union and promising financial nirvana to a barely-adult man or woman with two dollars in his/her pocket.

If kids are responsible and want a credit card, I have no problem with them getting one. In fact, college can be the smartest time to do so, because it's actually harder to be accepted once you're out of school. But I think schools should draw the line at making credit cards seem as much a part of college as eating ramen noodles and making unfortunate decision when you have your beer goggles on.