Some of this information is provided by the GAO report on College Students and Credit Cards. Unfortunately the information is from 2001 and earlier. However, it does seem to be one of the early providers of information that led to the student specific changes to credit card rules.

So let’s look at how students get their credit cards. Below is a graph of how students applied for their cards from the information in the 2001 report:

Student Card Application MethodSource: GAO Report: College Students and Credit Cards

So from this data from the GAO report we can see that campus display is around a quarter of the applications. The Campus Credit Card Trap, a more recent report that was put out in March 2008 actually has a breakdown of the “gifts”. The most common incentive was a t-shirt, and many reported being offered multiple incentives. The most interesting thing about this report is that it does state that almost 3/4 of students said that they did stop at the tables / displays on-campus. So clearly, even if it does not result in the most applications it does get students attention.  And naturally if it did not work, the credit card issues would not continue the practice.

To that point, a Sallie Mae report How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards contends that an increasing number of students are getting credit cards before college, and as a result the number of campus displays are decreasing.

So with the changes brought about by the Credit CARD Act, it will be interesting to see how it impacts this trend. Will parents cosign for their children more often?  I seriously hope that is not the resulting trend. Instead, students should start their independent lives free of debt.

Sources and Other References

The Campus Credit Card Trap

How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards

College Students and Credit Cards

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What I find fascinating about the site is that it provides free access to educational material that generally would cost thousands of dollars to obtain. Of course, generally when attending these courses people are looking for a degree, which you certainly can’t get by watching these lectures. Lectures from Yale, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and others are available.

It has been awhile since I have been out of college, and I do not envision myself going back for a graduate degree.  But I still think it is important to grow in both the more practical career related ways, and even in more academic ways.  This site offers that ability to learn new topics from an academic perspective.  It also provides a refresher on some of the classes I took in college and have a passing interest in now.

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