New Trend? I like it!

They won't "chuck em out" because allowing credit card companies to solicit on campus means dollars - either through vendors fees or royalties on cobranded cards.

What really struck me as ridiculous in the article was this:

"In California, Assemblyman Paul Koretz said he proposed the statewide measure partly out of concern that vendors' gifts were wooing students who wouldn't otherwise want a credit card. Last year, in a poll by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, 80 percent of college students surveyed said they applied for a credit card on campus because they wanted the free gifts. "

Anyone, including the company that did this survey, that believes this is misinformed. Take an 18 year old, remove him/her from the home environment, allow major credit card issuers to flash plastic cash with almost guaranteed approval in front of them and you are generally asking for trouble. This doesn't apply to all college students, but a good percentage - there are many that will work hard manage the card well and make their payments in a timely and consistent manner. It isn't the "Free Gifts", I suspect the numbers accepting the offers would be very close to the same without them - it is the "instant gratification" draw of having a credit card.

 

My comments may be a bit off target, but I had to respond with my two cents worth.

College students should NOT get credit cards, and the CC companies KNOW this. Look, we are talking about prolonged adolescence here. Most college students are just now learning to manage a checkbook and how to live on a budget.

These kids are getting in debt while in college, so they can slave away the rest of their lives paying off this foolish debt.

I think all college students being claimed as dependents on their parents' Federal Income Tax returns should be required to get parental approval in order to get a credit card.

If not, then they should have to take a course in Credit Management 101 as a prerequisite!

Calmest_LA

 

Ok you all must have missed 20/20 or dateline or one of those news programs.the story started out on how a college student committed suicide b/c he was so in debt. Colleges profit when a Citibank or a FUSA issues a card with their logo/mascot on it. They have contracts in the millions of dollars. I remeber my days being a Bulldawg and how they use to be on every corner hawking a water bottle, tshirt, or whatever for signing up...Poor little students didn't know how bad an inquiry hurt them. And guess what the signer-uppers make a little change off of each application. It's really bad.

My little brother is in college and he brings everything to me to read before he applies...LOL! Too funny! (yet sad)

 

I feel that it is okay for college students to get credit cards because you have to start somewhere. It's really tough to get prime cards with little or no credit, I know this firsthand. When I was in college a few years ago I never had a credit card, except for a being an AU on a Macys card. I started applying for prime cards after graduation and was rejected every time despite having a good payment record on the Macys card. I was finally approved for one of those subprime Providian cards with no grace period. I used this to build my credit history and now I can get almost any card.

I know some college freshmen are still immature with financial matters, but you can't build a good credit history without a credit card and you cannot get better cards without a good credit history.

 

I think it's alright for an eighteen to get a credit card as long as have had a course in debt management and consumer credit education. I took this thought to my local delegate last year and the Secretary of Education for the state of Virginia threw it out. So apparently ignorance is bliss (at least where the government and credit card issuers are concerned).

Dani