Colleges cash in when students use credit cards

'It's pretty frustrating and stressful. You're reminded every second of every day. They just want their money.'

For UCF student Charles Hogan, the path to crushing debt was paved by a pizza.

Two years ago, while walking across campus early one day, he was handed a flier promising free food. All he had to do was apply for an MBNA credit card.

He got his pizza. And now he has three cards, with $6,000 worth of debt.

That puts Hogan, 23, at the center of a national debate about whether credit-card companies should be allowed to recruit on college campuses. At risk are tens of thousands of students who are increasingly falling into debt, using student loans to pay credit-card bills, taking second jobs and, in some cases, dropping out of school.

A handful of states, including California, New York and Washington, have passed laws aimed at curtailing campus marketing.

Not Florida. The state's university system offers no formal guidance, leaving administrators free to set their own rules -- rules that allow schools such as the University of Central Florida to make money off students' card purchases.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Where to place blame?

Please help me to understand your front page story of Sunday: The college students who have all the answers to world peace, the global environment and race relations can't figure out that if they charge items on a credit card, that they must pay back the loan, with interest?

I have an idea: Let's blame it on the banks and credit-card companies. Someone else must be responsible for our irresponsibility.

Paul Johnson
Belle Isle