Representatives from the ISU Government of the Student Body will be speaking to the state Legislature at the end of the month regarding to student debt.

Last month, The Des Moines Register published a series of articles reporting on school-sponsored credit cards solicited to students at Iowa State, Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa, through each school’s alumni associations.

In response, the Iowa Joint Government Oversight Committee has invited members of each university’s student government and faculty to speak on behalf of students about the debt incurred throughout the education process during a two-day committee meeting on Oct. 29 and 30.

Douglas Wulf, division administrator for the fiscal services division of the Legislative Services Agency, said the issue of student finances has come up in the past, but this is the first time the oversight committee will be getting involved.

“The articles in The Des Moines Register have gotten the curiosity of legislators, so they wanted actual student body representatives as well as university representatives to talk about their point of view,” Wulf said.

Representing the ISU student body will be GSB President Brian Phillips, senior in political science, along with Vice President Ian Guffy, senior in computer science, Senator Taleen Brady, senior in psychology, Secretary John Franklin, junior in design, Director of ISU Ambassadors Christopher Rieser, senior in psychology, Senator Timothy McQuillan, junior in linguistics, and Senator Timothy Reineke, senior in political science.

Phillips said Iowa State’s GSB representatives do have an insight to the financial status of students, but they would like to hear any first-hand testimonies of students facing hard times economically.

“We’re encouraging students to get in contact with us via the GSB Web site with any questions, comments, or concerns,” Phillips said. “I’ve been having general discussions with students, like I do on most issues, and by and large I’ve found that our student population is relatively uninformed about what is currently going on.”

For college students the two biggest detriments to their financial status after graduation are student loans and credit cards. While some students rely on loans to pay tuition, credit cards can be the biggest problem financially, but Phillips said as of now, the university isn’t doing anything wrong by soliciting credit cards to students.

“From my conversations with university administrators, it’s hard for me to find any ways in which ISU is doing anything wrong,” Phillips said.

That doesn’t mean we can’t improve in other areas such as providing financial counseling services to students.”

Phillips said one of the biggest problems facing students financially was an overall lack of education, regarding to their solicitation of information by the university.

After hearing from students and faculty, Wulf said, the Legislature can see if there is a problem.

“The Legislature will review this issue and perhaps put it on a future agenda to look at alternatives,” Wulf said. “By having the initial meeting now, the Legislature can determine if it’s an issue that they wish to follow up with during session, and perhaps address in some fashion with legislation.”