Every time students say “charge it” to buy books, school supplies and dorm-room furnishings, they may be digging themselves deeper into debt.

“A lot of [students] come to get help setting up budgets, but credit cards and student loans are a big problem,” said Mark Oleson, director of the ISU Financial Counseling Clinic.

Oleson said students who use credit cards irresponsibly while in college experience difficulty once they graduate and want to finance a car or house.

According to the Public Interest Research Group, a nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer group, getting a job may even be a problem since a credit check is often a part of the hiring process for employers.

“Credit cards are a problem from the standpoint of making poor choices and having it affect them for the rest of their lives,” Oleson said.

PIRG, which released a survey of 1,260 students from 15 campuses nationwide called “The Campus Credit Card Trap,” said colleges should restrict credit card companies from giving students free gifts in exchange for filling out applications unless the student has first read a credit card education brochure.

“Students, especially those who fill out credit card applications at campus tables in return for trinkets and candy, run the risk of falling into the campus credit card trap,” Ed Mierzwinski, U.S PIRG consumer program director, wrote in the report. “Students, often without jobs and often facing large student loan and other school debts, should be careful not to make things worse by running up unnecessary, high-cost credit card debt.”

Oleson said Iowa State assists credit card companies in their on-campus credit card marketing efforts.

He cited the selling of students’ names and e-mail addresses by the university as one of the ways Iowa State cooperates with credit card companies.

“At ISU, there’s not a lot of policy in place to stop [credit card marketing] from occurring,” he said.

Warren Madden, vice president for Business and Finance, said Iowa State allows credit card marketers from MBNA America Bank to solicit students on campus as long as they operate within the contractual guidelines set up between them and the ISU Alumni Association.

“The contract gives MBNA the opportunity to market on campus,” he said.

Diane Van Wyngarden, director of marketing for the ISU Alumni Association, said MBNA America Bank only issues Iowa State’s affinity credit cards, which bear the image of Iowa State’s mascot Cy.

“The concept of the affinity credit card meets with the mission of the Alumni Association,” she said.

Van Wyngarden said the Alumni Association informs MBNA America Bank of campus events, such as football and basketball games and Veishea.

“They’re going to look for opportunities where there’s high traffic flow,” she said.

Van Wyngarden said MBNA America Bank has issued 25,000 affinity credit cards to ISU alumni and students since they began offering the card in 1998.

Oleson said students are usually not prepared to deal with the responsibilities of owning a credit card, and he said Iowa State should provide credit card education to new ISU students.

“I think if [Iowa State is] going to be allowing the credit card companies to come [on campus], they probably ought to have some type of required class that freshmen would take that would teach them what [credit cards] are … and how to use them … and what the consequences of using them unwisely would be,” he said.

Van Wyngarden said MBNA America Bank provides credit card education literature and seminars to students who are thinking about applying.

“They provide an on-campus credit card education seminar in the fall where they focus on what credit is and how to maintain good credit,” she said.

Van Wyngarden said while MBNA America Bank is the only credit card company they allow to market on campus, other companies are probably allowed to solicit as long as “they go through the appropriate channels.”

Oleson said he recommends students look for a credit card with no annual fee and a low, fixed interest rate — at or below 12.9 percent — from a reputable company that offers benefits, such as cash-back rewards and frequent flier miles.

Some ISU students working to whittle down a credit card balance may also have student loan debt to deal with after graduation.

“With credit card debt stacked on top of student loan debt, these results should be alarming for students, parents and educators,” said Ivan Frishberg, director of PIRG’s Higher Education Project.

Figures compiled by the Department of Education show the amount of money borrowed by students increased by 11 percent in 1997.

PIRG’s Higher Education Project estimates with continued increases in student borrowing, an incoming freshman can expect to graduate with about $20,000 of student loan debt.

Oleson said the typical ISU undergraduate should plan on racking up $15,000 to $25,000 in four years time.

Andy Fields, junior in psychology, said his student loans have already added up to about $36,000, and by the time he earns his doctorate degree, he expects his loans to double.

“Basically, the next 10 years after college … I’m going to be paying off my student loans,” he said.

Fields, like many ISU students, works during the school year to help combat his out-of-state tuition and housing costs.

He said his job covers his expenses, but only because he works “a lot compared to most college students.”

Oleson said he rates Iowa State students’ approach to money management as “less than average.”

“Planning is the biggest key” to prevent students from getting into debt in the first place. He said many ISU students come to the clinic when they are already in debt and their options are limited.

“Typically, students wait until they’re backed into a corner and don’t really know where to turn,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to deal with [debt] when there are a lot of options available to them, and then we let them know what those options are.”

While credit card companies and universities can educate students about the benefits and the pitfalls of credit cards, PIRG said it is up to students to use them responsibly.

“Responsible use of credit cards can help college students build a credit record that will help them get car loans and mortgages after they graduate,” Mierzwinski said. “But it is up to students to protect themselves from unwise credit card debt, because no one else will.”

For more information, students can contact the ISU Financial Counseling Clinic at 294-8644 or by accessing its Web site at www.fcs.iastate.edu/financial.