Students Could Be Denied Credit Cards

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., spoke to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs earlier this month, rallying support for legislation that he introduced in May.

Dodd's proposed legislation would amend the Truth in Lending Act and deny people under the age of 21 the ability to get a credit card unless certain criteria was met.

Students must have another person cosign the application to ensure payment; the person must submit financial verification that he can pay the credit card bill or prove that he completed a specified credit counseling course.

"The fact of the matter is that financial institutions view incoming college freshman as fish in a barrel for purposes of credit card solicitations," Dodd was quoted as saying in a transcript of his speech. "A lot of these young people have been or will be forced to drop out of school to pay their debts."

Dodd's legislation was spurred on in part by a study by Nellie Mae, a lending agency that loans money primarily to college students.

"It is ... alarming to know that, on average, 16 percent of total debt owed when an undergraduate leaves school is credit card debt," the study stated. "The student will pay a much higher price over time for this borrowed money than he or she will for the same amount in education loans."

Nina Prikazsky, vice president of Nellie Mae, said the study revealed some potentially harmful trends.

"Overall (the study) showed that undergraduates are increasing their use of the credit card," Prikazsky said. "Although the average (credit card balance) is lower, fewer students have low balances," Prikazsky said.

The report showed that 83 percent of students have credit cards and 21 percent of students have high-level balances -- those between $3,000 and $7,000.

"The average debt owed on students' credit cards is $3,002," Prikazsky said.

Half of all college freshmen have credit cards, and of those freshmen, the average student has 2.5 credit cards, the report stated. The study found that the average college senior has six credit cards.

Prikazsky said some colleges have entered into contractual agreements with credit card companies that allow marketing to students -- although most advertisements are directed at alumni.

James Clinton, UNC ONE Card office operations manager, said the university has relationships with financial institutions but that it never allows credit card companies to market to students. Clinton said the office introduced a modified version of the ONE Card that allows students to use the card as a check card.

"It's not a credit card," he said. "The UNC ONE Card has the function (of a check card)."

Clinton said the ONE Card Office has rejected ideas to offer a credit card option on students' cards.

"That's not a good thing to promote on campus. Who wants to put a student in debt?"

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.