Credit Card Marketing Geared at Students Is Down

Ever since a 2009 law restricted the ability of credit card companies to push their wares on college students, the companies have substantially reined in their marketing to students -- but are targeting alumni instead, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Tuesday. 

The GAO report found a decline in the number and value of affinity card agreements, in which issuers use the institution's name or logo in exchange for payments. Several leading providers of credit cards said that they had ceased their marketing to students, and college officials interviewed by GAO agreed.