Colleges are cutting deals with Wall Street to steer students into debit cards

By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel

Not too long ago, it was pretty common to see credit card companies peddling plastic on college campuses. They’d have tables or booths set up at registration events or student fairs. These guys were so ubiquitous at my campus that I figured they had cut a deal with the school. Turns out that they did.

Hundreds of universities used to allow credit card companies to market their products on campus for a cut of the proceeds, without disclosing the terms of their agreements to students or their families. Schools would take in millions of dollars, while card companies extended credit to unemployed 18-year-olds at orientation.