HARTFORD – State Representative Janice Giegler (R-138) supported a bill tightening rules on how companies market credit cards at colleges.
The bill would bar companies from soliciting undergraduates at Connecticut’s public colleges during class registration, or using gifts and other application incentives. It also bars the companies from pursuing students’ parents or guardians to collect the students’ unpaid debts.
Rep. Giegler, “Students, who lack sizeable or steady income, are using credit cards to cover the costs of food, utilities, and many of the expenses associated with receiving higher education. This means in order for students to graduate from college, many must absorb an increasingly inflated price of debt.”
According to a survey by U.S. PIRG, a nonprofit public policy organization, two-thirds of college students have at least one credit card. A quarter of the respondents said they had paid at least one late fee.
“I do not want our young people to be saddled with large debt before they even graduate from college. Much like cigarette companies marketing to children, credit card companies should not be targeting college students,” added Giegler, whose district includes Western Connecticut State University.
The House approved the bill (HB-6483) on a 143-0 vote Thursday and sent it to the State Senate for debate.
