Banks and card companies become more aggressive when it comes to the advertising of credit products. Moreover, college students meet face to face with loan sharks at college campuses. Interestingly, now creditors are getting more creative by offering credit card applications with various free gifts like pizzas, candies, not to mention traditional T-shirts.

According to the research, more than 75% of college students say plastics have been offered to them through the tables set near campuses. Free beverages or T-shirts serve as an incentive to sign up for a card. Just like companies recruit and hire the most talented students, lenders search for potential clients at college campuses to make them stay loyal with some particular company.

At first glance, high school and college students are not the best clients for credit companies. They have no primary job, no stable income. The question is, why on earth do lenders want to have such young clients? The answer is simple. First off, most students treat credit cards like easy access to credit. Really, lenders do not bother much about your bad credit history, if you happen to be a college student.

Moreover, card companies provide student credit cards in hope that they will return to this card issuer when they need a car loan or a mortgage. Unfortunately, not every student can be responsible for his/her spendings, especially when credit cards are granted like free money with a free gift on top of that.

Probably, there's nothing wrong in credit, and there are lots of people who use their plastics incorrectly, and age is not the major factor here. The problem is, creditors do their best to reach students despite all the restrictions concerning credit marketing at college campuses. They become more creative when it comes to credit card marketing. To be more exact, they spare no effort to reach their potential clients through alumni associations, e-mail, and even phone calls.

Meantime, more and more colleges partner with banks to compensate for cuts in state funding. Consumer advocates are highly concerned about such partnerships, as they lead to the growing number of irresponsible credit users. Maybe, the reason lies in aggressive marketing campaigns? Students will likely sign up for a credit card just to receive a free candy, or pizza. However, no one dares to explain how much he or she will spend carrying the card with high credit card fees or hefty interest rates.

According to statistic, the average graduate student gathers approximately $6,000 in credit card debt. Probably, it's high time to think about some other free gifts, like free educational books or CDs that would highlight some major credit guidelines.

Anyway, these partnerships may come in the form of various credit education programs, and some major issuers actually give preference to this method. Let's hope that banks will stop hawking plastics at college campuses. Most probably, the number of irresponsible student credit cardholders will drop then.

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