Marketing Credit Cards to College Students: Will Legislation Protect Them From Excessive Debt?

Pressured by college administrators and parents, legislators have increased efforts to restrict credit card solicitation on college campuses in order to protect students from excessive debt. However, this study found that only 4.8 percent of students’ cards were actually obtained through on-campus sources. No significant differences were found between schools that allowed on-campus solicitation and those that did not, in terms of where students obtained their cards. However, students had both significantly higher numbers of cards and higher outstanding balances at schools that allowed on-campus solicitation. These results suggest that the issue of college students and credit card solicitation is a complicated one, and protection through legislation is not always effective.