New Jersey State Senator Barbara Buono has proposed a bill requiring credit card companies to educate student card-holders and prohibiting on-campus promotional give-aways, the latest example of a growing effort to prevent students from falling into the credit trap. "[The bill] enables students who are solicited on campus to make an educated and fully informed decision," said Buono. "A 19- or 20-year-old encountering a carnival atmosphere on campus bloated with marketing tactics like free T-shirts is at a disadvantage.” The bill requires credit card companies to produce a course completion certificate for every student signed up for a credit card. The bill also prohibits credit-card companies from purchasing student specific contact lists of information from higher education institutions and associated data companies. NJ joins Arizona and Maryland in using legislation to reign in what they see as unfair and misleading credit card company tactics. In other states, elected officials turned to the courts instead of the legislature. In 2007 Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann brought charges of unfair marketing practices against Citibank and Potbelly Sandwich works for handing out fliers for free sandwiches on campus and then requiring an application for a credit card to be filled out in order to receive the food.

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