Higher Education In the News

Sometimes it’s too tempting for poor college students to resist.

Their friends, trying to raise money for their fraternity’s charity or rugby team, pressure them to sign up for credit cards in exchange for free T-shirts or sandwiches.

But even signing up for credit cards only to throw them away later can hurt students’ credit scores and damage their chances of landing decent home loans once they graduate.

That’s why Del. Susan Krebs, R-Carroll County, is pushing a bill that would require Maryland’s public universities to enact policies overseeing credit card marketers and their gift giveaways on campus.

“We want to discourage kids from opening a credit card account for no reason,” Krebs said.

“Many people get out of college, apply for a house loan and don’t know they are subprime because their credit scores are low, especially when they don’t have established homeownership and a job.”

Jessica Hess, who graduated last year from University of Maryland, College Park, remembers the pressure she felt as a sorority sister to support the fundraisers of fellow sororities and fraternities.

“It puts you in an awkward situation when it’s your friends who put you on the spot,” said Hess, a biology major.

“It’s hard to say no to a philanthropic cause or to say no to your friends. It’s very manipulative.”

The most popular free gifts credit card companies give out are T-shirts, Frisbees, stress balls, candy, mugs, hats and food, according to a survey released Thursday by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, which polled more than 1,500 students at 40 colleges, including UMd.

Four out of five students surveyed said they supported the adoption of school regulations for credit card marketing, and three in four wanted only credit cards with fair conditions — not astronomical interest rates — hawked on-campus.

“The majority of students have been stopped by credit card tables,” said Chris Leuchten, campus organizer for UM’s PIRG chapter.

“It’s a widespread problem.”