"Universities and their alumni associations have discovered an unlikely and disturbing source of revenue: Increasingly, they are selling students' personal information to big credit-card companies eager for young customers."

I wonder why universities are allowed to sell this kind information in the first place? Especially the info of those students who are still MINORS.

"In exchange for helping snare customers from Iowa's 29,000-person student body, card issuer MBNA (now owned by Bank of America (BAC)) agreed to pay the school's alumni group about $1 million a year, some one-fourth of the organization's operating budget."

I guess tuition fees just aren't enough. What a nice kickback the universities get for selling the personal info of their students. I wonder if the students have a choice in the matter. Could this be the universities way of 'prepping' their students for all those predatory lenders who will undoubtedly be waiting for them to buy a house after they graduate? What an 'education' that will be!

Dreamgarden - According to the quote you posted, the UNIVERSITY is getting nothing... so it has nothing to do with tuition fees or anything else.

It says the money is going to the alumni group.
Whole different critter.

Any student who grads with a $70,000. debt ...

... isn't going to be thinking of buying any house for a while!!

ole joyful

P.S. Most alumni groups that I've had any knowledge of contribute a substantial portion of their income to various aspects of the capital and operating systems of their university.

So it seems to me that, in actuality, the disconnection is not as great as first it may appear.

o j

joyfulguy-"P.S. Most alumni groups that I've had any knowledge of contribute a substantial portion of their income to various aspects of the capital and operating systems of their university.

So it seems to me that, in actuality, the disconnection is not as great as first it may appear."

Parents already pay plenty for college tuition. I think it stinks that parents should have to put up with the university allowing OUTSIDE vendors to hawk debt-creating 'wares' to their UNDERage children.

I worked at a museum that catered to young people. This museum allowed credit card providers to set up a table inside the front entrance. People who signed up got a FREE T-SHIRT! What a deal! I'm sure these folks never considered how much money THE VENDOR made from the sale (and resale) of their most vital, personal info.

Dreamgarden,

Most young people are eighteen years old when they start their freshman year. Sure, there are a few younger but not many.

In 1971, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America became law.

This Amendment provides that the right of a citizen of the United States who is eighteen years of age or older to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of age.

After this Amendment of the Constitution a number of States altered the age of majority.

Age of Majority by State

Alabama 19
Alaska 18
Arizona 18
Arkansas 18 (or graduation from high school, whichever is later)
California 18
Colorado 18
Connecticut 18
Delaware 19
District of Columbia 18
Florida 18
Georgia 18
Hawaii 18
Idaho 18
Illinois 18
Indiana 18
Iowa 18
Kansas 18
Kentucky 18
Louisiana 18
Maine 18
Maryland 18
Massachusetts 18
Michigan 18
Minnesota 18
Missouri 18
Mississippi 21
Montana 18
Nebraska 19
New Hampshire 18
New Mexico 18
Nevada 18 (or if still in high school at 18, 19 or graduation, whichever comes sooner)
New Jersy 18
New York 18
North Carolina 18
North Dakota 18
Ohio 18 (or graduation from high school, whichever comes first)
Oklahoma 18
Oregon 18
Pennsylvania 18
Rhode Island 18
South Carolina 18
South Dakota 18
Tennessee 18 (or graduation from high school, whichever is later)
Texas 18
Utah 18 (or graduation from high school, whichever is earlier)
Vermont 18
Virginia 18 (or graduation from high school, whichever is latest)
Washington 18
West Virginia 18
Wisconsin 18 (or if still in high school at 18, 19 or graduation, whichever comes sooner)
Wyoming 18

So, your comment, "...university allowing OUTSIDE vendors to hawk debt-creating 'wares' to their UNDERage children." does not hold up in the majority of states.

In most states, an 18 year old may enter into a legally binding contrat, marry without parental consent, vote, & serve in the armed forces.

So, rather than blame the vendors, it's a good idea to teach our kids about finances before they need to put the skills into practical everyday useage.

/tricia

It doesn't surprise me that anyone with any information to sell is actually doing just that. It's called capitalism. We're supposed to like it.

Just because you get an offer for a credit card doesn't mean you have to take it.

I wish my parents paid for my tuition. I got out of vet school with the average $96000 school loan debt. But no credit cards!

triciae-"Dreamgarden, Most young people are eighteen years old when they start their freshman year. Sure, there are a few younger but not many."

Your right, my mistake. I still don't appreciate seeing college campus's collect tuition payments, while at the same time, allowing their students to be approached by outside vendors/banks hawking debt instruments before they have completed their education, or started working full time.

Do you think its a good idea for companies to be able to hawk junk food (Pepsi, etc) in the vending machines of public schools?

My daughter graduated college without falling prey to "outside vendors/banks"... and so far my son has too (he has one more year to go).

Just because they are there doesn't mean they are twisting arms and forcing students to sign up.

------------

"I think it stinks that parents should have to put up with the university allowing OUTSIDE vendors to hawk debt-creating 'wares' to their UNDERage children."

I don't have to put up with anything as I am nowhere near campus.
Credit cards are not necessarily 'debt-creating wares'. We all use ours wisely... paying off in full each month.
My kids are not underage at college... they are young legal adults.

I don't believe it's the government's function to tell me whether I should have a cheeseburger for lunch, or not.

Dreamgarden: Many, many young people HAVE completed their education & are working after graduating highschool. Is it, in your opinion, OK to offer those people CCs but not college students? Our kids had been working since they were 16 years old...well before college. They also had checking accounts that they balanced every month, savings accounts, & we helped them with their own small investment accounts with Charles Schwab. So, I didn't worry in the slightest about them over extending themselves in college.

The problem isn't CC companies or Pepsi Corporation. The problem is lack of financial education at home before the kids reach the age of majority. That's a parental responsibility, IMO. Same thing with eating too much junk food...should be taught at home.

I think not allowing vending machines in schools is ridiculous & will absolutely not solve an adolescent obesity problem in the country. Didn't you ever grab a Snickers bar & a Coke after practice? I sure did. But, then I went home & had a balanced homecooked meal with my family. I sent homemade cookies in my kid's lunches. No difference really than grabbing Oreos from the vending machine. But, my kids participated in athletics all the way through school. They burned off calories faster than I could shove food down their throats. Today, too many kids are going home without any exercise at all in their day. Pepsi Corporation is not the problem with American kids.

/tricia

triciae-"I don't believe it's the government's function to tell me whether I should have a cheeseburger for lunch, or not. The problem isn't CC companies or Pepsi Corporation. The problem is lack of financial education at home before the kids reach the age of majority. That's a parental responsibility, IMO. Same thing with eating too much junk food...should be taught at home."

I don't believe it should be the 'government's function' to bail out sub-prime investment banks for their ponzi like lending practices any more than I think cheeseburgers need to be regulated, but unfortunately, its the taxpayers who are being asked to pick up the tab for their irresponsible behavior. If financial education begins at home then I'd love to hear what the parents of the CEO's at Bear Stearns, Citi, etc., have to say about how they think they went wrong in parenting these 'kids'.

>>I think not allowing vending machines in schools is ridiculous & will absolutely not solve an adolescent obesity problem in the country. Didn't you ever grab a Snickers bar & a Coke after practice? I sure did. But, then I went home & had a balanced homecooked meal with my family.

We didn't have candy and soda in our house. We ate balanced homecooked meals with the occasional ice cream cone or cake on special occasions. Otherwise it was fruit, unless I was having dinner at a friends house. I'm sure I would have eaten sugary snacks if we had vending machines in our school. I think Governor Schwarzenegger is on the right track about solving the obesity problem with the passage of Trans Fat Bill (AB 97). It bans soda and junk food in the state's schools, develops nutritional standards for vending machine items and brings more fruits and vegetables into school cafeterias. For the last few decades, soda and junk food have crept into our schools through a "school nutrition loophole," namely vending machines, ala carte offerings, and school stores. The current system is undermining parental authority and is a primary culprit in the childhood obesity epidemic. The Journal of the American Medical Association (10-27-99) reported "alarming increases in obesity among children and adolescents," and editorialized about the role of the "marketing of snack foods" in the epidemic.

>>Dreamgarden: Many, many young people HAVE completed their education & are working after graduating highschool. Is it, in your opinion, OK to offer those people CCs but not college students?

If students (or anyone) want a credit card, I think they should go a bank and apply for one there. College should not be a preying area for aggressive marketers.

I also object to those universities who are selling the personal information of their students, alumni, and employees without their permission. McClatchy news published an article about this earlier this month (College students' credit-card debt spurs concern).

In 2007, the FTC reported that credit card fraud was at the top of the list for the most common form of reported identity theft at 23 percent.

How are students supposed to safeguard their identity when their provider of 'higher education' is selling their information to strangers?

A link that might be useful:

www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/46745.html

dreamgarden,

"I don't believe it should be the 'government's function' to bail out sub-prime investment banks for their ponzi like lending practices any more than I think cheeseburgers need to be regulated, but unfortunately, its the taxpayers who are being asked to pick up the tab for their irresponsible behavior. If financial education begins at home then I'd love to hear what the parents of the CEO's at Bear Stearns, Citi, etc., have to say about how they think they went wrong in parenting these 'kids'."

What is this comment's relevance to young adults applying for a CC on campus?

I stand by my statement that prohibiting vending machines in schools will NOT solve an obesity problem in children. You cannot legislate good eating habits. Won't work.

"College should not be a preying area for aggressive marketers."

Sorry, I believe that's just silly. These people are old enough for deployment to Iraq where they must withstand a barrage of bullets to protect both of us living nice cushy lives back in the States. To suggest they are somehow not old enough or qualified enough to withstand marketing pressure for a CC is insulting, IMO.

CCs are NOT evil. Leverage is NOT evil. Both are useful wealth building tools.

Candy bars are NOT evil. A bean/beef burrito with cheese is NOT evil. A Coke is NOT evil.

Silly me. I've been of the impression that this country learned back in the 1920s that prohibition doesn't work. Doesn't matter whether we ban alcohol or Cheetos. It doesn't work. Ban Cheetos & all you'll end up with are underground 'Cheetos Pushers'! rofl!! Maybe, a speakeasy type place serving pizza w/sausage & cheese, double burgers, Hostess cupcakes, and of course plenty of Pepsi & Coke. They could locate these places inside little forts that the kids build in their backyards & smuggle the 'goods' in from Mom/Dad's stash!

Next, we'll be hearing Kermit say that Miss Piggy's been denied an airline seat! :) Geesh.

dreamgarden, I attended an open campus highschool. We left school at lunch every day & went to the local burger joint for lunch. (I grew up during the 60s in greater LA) Why were WE not obese? I chugged down zillions of shakes (my fav was chocolate!) with my burgers & burritos.

May I put myself out on a limb here & suggest, maybe, we weren't obsese because we spent our free time surfing, dancing, playing sports, & walking to/from work. All during our childhoods, our Moms kicked us out of the house after breakfast & we didn't come back until time for the next meal. We knew we had to be home at 6:00 p.m. for dinner. We were then kicked out again until bed time. We knew it was time to head home when the streetlights came on. Lots of active play, bike riding, walking around town to our friend's houses, & challenging each other in various contests of athletic abilities. A far cry from the life of many kids today. I also suggest that today's kid who's playing sports, walking to/from practice instead of being driven, & is allowed to ride their bike around town is not experiencing an obesity problem in spite of grabbing a Snickers between science & English classes.

/tricia (who intends her analogies to be in good humor)

I had the experience of applying for a credit card when I was in my late 20s and working (albeit at a low-paying job). I had no debts and was very careful with what little money I had. I was turned down.

The following year, I went to graduate school, and lo and behold, I had credit card offers galore. This was in 1987. I signed up for one. Turned out my mother was automatically made the cosigner. But I used it sparingly and never got into any trouble with money, and she never had to bail me out.

However, I can imagine that someone less frugal than I was could have gotten into some serious problems.

As to selling people's names to marketing companies -- I just expect it any time I provide my name and address for anything.

Agree about the exercise/eating thing. I do think, though, that having the vending machines in schools encourages kids to drink sugary sodas instead of water or something with nutritional value. Or if they get diet drinks, to spend a lot of money on water with chemicals in it.

dreamgarden-"I don't believe it should be the 'government's function' to bail out sub-prime investment banks for their ponzi like lending practices any more than I think cheeseburgers need to be regulated, but unfortunately, its the taxpayers who are being asked to pick up the tab for their irresponsible behavior. If financial education begins at home then I'd love to hear what the parents of the CEO's at Bear Stearns, Citi, etc., have to say about how they think they went wrong in parenting these 'kids'."

"What is this comment's relevance to young adults applying for a CC on campus?"

I think it is as relevant as your comment about regulating cheeseburger consumption: "I don't believe it's the government's function to tell me whether I should have a cheeseburger for lunch, or not."

We are discussing credit and financial responsibility for one's actions, right? Like you said, "financial responsibility begins at home". IMO, these subjects appear to be related...

"I stand by my statement that prohibiting vending machines in schools will NOT solve an obesity problem in children. You cannot legislate good eating habits. Won't work."

I'm glad Governor Schwarzenegger and the JAMA think differently about this.
I don't have a problem with the government regulating what types of NUTRITIONALLY COMPLETE foods can/should be made available to children in schools, anymore than I have a problem with our government making banking institutions own up to their responsibilities for their under the table (fraudulent) banking practices that are now tanking our economy.

If schools (or banks) can't (refuse) do this themselves, then they NEED to be regulated. Innocent taxpayers shouldn't be penalized for the corrupt actions of those who are in a position to know better than anyone else why they should NOT lend money to those can't even show proof of income, etc. How responsible is this?

dreamgarden-"College should not be a preying area for aggressive marketers."

"Sorry, I believe that's just silly. These people are old enough for deployment to Iraq where they must withstand a barrage of bullets to protect both of us living nice cushy lives back in the States. To suggest they are somehow not old enough or qualified enough to withstand marketing pressure for a CC is insulting, IMO."

What good is it to be 'old enough or qualified enough' if you are unable to stop your university from selling your most vital information to strangers? Don't you consider this insulting? Our military members and students are paying for their education. Now they get to pay again with a compromised identity after their institution of 'higher learning' has sold them out to the highest bidder WITHOUT their express permission. Plus, its even tougher for our soldiers to deal with identity theft after they are deployed. I.D. thieves know this (see link below). I'm sure it would please Bin Laden to no end to know that our country is shooting itself in the foot in NOT protecting the identities of our service members info while they are still in their own country.

>>I think not allowing vending machines in schools is ridiculous & will absolutely not solve an adolescent obesity problem in the country. Didn't you ever grab a Snickers bar & a Coke after practice? I sure did. But, then I went home & had a balanced homecooked meal with my family.

Sure, I used to grab a candy bar & a coke after school on many occasions, but I'm glad I didn't have access to it in school. Parents can control what their children eat at home but really don't have this option while they are working, right? Its one thing to stop at the store on the way home from school and grab a snack. I don't see how making unhealthy foods available to kids during school will improve their eating habits. Why should fast food vendors decide what MY school children can/should have access to while they are attending school? That is the parents and educators responsibility, not those who stand to profit from enticing my child to eat junk when they should be paying attention to their studies. Let them go to a convenience, grocery, fast food restaurant for these.

"CCs are NOT evil. Leverage is NOT evil. Both are useful wealth building tools. Candy bars are NOT evil. A bean/beef burrito with cheese is NOT evil. A Coke is NOT evil."

Inanimate object can be evil? LOL. In business, evil refers to unfair or unethical business 'practices', not objects. I consider the behaviors of indifferent corporate interests/persons to be evil when they tell me what my child can eat without consulting with me first. Wikipedia-"When a person acts in such a way as to use others as means to achieve one's own personal ends or fails to consider the consequences of his or her acts upon the lives of others, it is considered to be psychopathic or sociopathic. If one accepts the Christian ethic that "by their deeds you shall know them", such acts are evil." Its nice to know that university administrators are allowing those with 'sociaopathic' interests to roam about our campus's trolling their debtwares to our innocent youth. If students want a CC, like I said earlier, let them go to a bank.

Next, we'll be hearing Kermit say that Miss Piggy's been denied an airline seat! :) Geesh.

Imagining Miss Piggy trying to squeeze herself in an airline seat does present an amusing image, but don't you think this conversation would be better served if we stuck to real life examples/analogies, rather than those that refer to stuffed puppets being denied airline seats, or CC's/burritos being 'evil'?!

dreamgarden, I attended an open campus highschool. We left school at lunch every day & went to the local burger joint for lunch. (I grew up during the 60s in greater LA) Why were WE not obese? I chugged down zillions of shakes (my fav was chocolate!) with my burgers & burritos.

I had my share of these foods when I was in high school as well and have to admit that they were delicious. I also participated in sports, rode my bike to school and never had to worry about obesity. I doubt I could say the same if I'd had access to more junk food in a school setting.

I'm curious. What kinds of food did you eat when you were in grade school? Were shakes, burgers and burritos offered in your high-school cafeteria, or did you have to leave campus to get these? My parents gave me money for a cafeteria lunch card or I took my own lunch. They refused to give me money for junk food. They also trusted the school system NOT to sabotage their efforts to be sure I had access to foods that would nourish my developing brain. My school was great about not allowing outside interests to 'teach me' what good nutrition was/is.

Tricia, I'm not sure we are going to agree about this subject, but in the spirit of more pleasant discourse, I'd like to say that I think you offer much useful, helpful advice here. I think your children are very fortunate in having not one, but two parents who are in the banking industry. Its a shame that more kids don't have parents like this.

Links that may be useful:

A Crash Course in Credit Cards for College Students
www.smartmoney.com/dealoftheday/index.cfm?story=20080819-credit-cards

Sallie Mae Demands SUNY Colleges Turn Over Students' Personal Data.
www.newamerica.net/blogs/education_policy/2007/10/

Universities sell contact information to solicitors
www.usforacle.com/news/2008/01/07/News/Universities.

Military Members Targeted for Identity Theft, Credit Card Fraud
www.militarymoney.com/credit/1065451018

harriethomeowner-"I had the experience of applying for a credit card when I was in my late 20s and working (albeit at a low-paying job). I had no debts and was very careful with what little money I had. I was turned down. The following year, I went to graduate school, and lo and behold, I had credit card offers galore. This was in 1987. I signed up for one. Turned out my mother was automatically made the cosigner. But I used it sparingly and never got into any trouble with money, and she never had to bail me out."

Were you working while you went to graduate school? Seems odd that you couldn't get a CC while you were working. Even with zero debt. I've never heard of someone automatically being made a cosigner. Did you get your credit card from the same bank your mother was with?

It seems that credit providers had much stricter standards for granting credit back then than they do now.

dreamgarden, no, I wasn't working full time when I went to graduate school. It's been more than 20 years, so I don't remember all the details, but I think I got one of those offers in the mail after registering that fall, and applied and got the card soon after. Apparently they had information not only on me but on my mother -- so it had to have been from the school. When I applied for the other card the year before, I had a full-time job. Now that I think about it, I believe I did have a car loan, but the payments weren't very high. I certainly was able to live on what I earned with no problem.

Credit providers were definitely much stricter back then.

dreamgarden: "What good is it to be 'old enough or qualified enough' if you are unable to stop your university from selling your most vital information to strangers?"

Their most vital information? LoL. I think that's just a little over the top. (Okay; more than just a little.) We're talking about names, addresses and phone numbers, not --- I repeat not - - DOBs & SSNs.

FWIW, I am on your side in the vending machine debate. Schools should not be in the junk food business. If students want to grab a Coke and a candy bar for lunch, let them go to the 7/11.

harriethomeowner-"dreamgarden, no, I wasn't working full time when I went to graduate school. It's been more than 20 years, so I don't remember all the details, but I think I got one of those offers in the mail after registering that fall, and applied and got the card soon after. Apparently they had information not only on me but on my mother -- so it had to have been from the school."

So it had to have been from the SCHOOL....

Did you mother have a pre-existing relationship with the school? How did the provider automatically decide that your mother should also be responsible for your debt? Did she have to sign anything in order for you to get this card?

How odd that you would be refused credit while you were working full-time, had a car loan and no other debt, yet the credit providers were more than happy to inundate you with offers in graduate school when you were only working PART time? This makes no sense to me.

bethesdamadman-"dreamgarden: "What good is it to be 'old enough or qualified enough' if you are unable to stop your university from selling your most vital information to strangers?"

Their most vital information? LoL. I think that's just a little over the top. (Okay; more than just a little.) We're talking about names, addresses and phone numbers, not --- I repeat not - - DOBs & SSNs.

bethesdamadman, I AM talking about universities releasing their students most vital info (DOBs & SSNs), NOT just names, addresses and phone numbers. Keep reading. I'll be curious to see how 'over the top' you think the following article is.

Selling Out Students to Sallie Mae
Stephen Burd : October 17, 2007

"Financial aid administrators have a sacred trust to safeguard their students' personal data. They certainly shouldn't be allowed to breach that trust just because it makes their lives easier."
Yesterday, we praised colleges that have resisted lenders' efforts to use open government laws to get personal data about their students for marketing purposes. Unfortunately, not all higher education institutions are as vigilant in protecting the privacy of their students’ information. Case in point: the University of Miami.

According to excellent reporting in the St. Petersburg Times, many University of Miami incoming freshmen were surprised this summer when they received pre-filled out master promissory notes from loan giant Sallie Mae even though they never actually applied for a loan. The students were particularly shocked to see that the notes included personal information, such as their Social Security numbers and birthdates, which they had not authorized the university to release.

It turns out that the university had authorized Sallie Mae to originate loans for incoming students who simply had filled out the FAFSA. University officials explained to the St. Petersburg Times that they consider the act of submitting a FAFSA to be synonymous with applying for a federal loan. Therefore, they don't believe that they violated the privacy interests of their students when they handed over that data to Sallie Mae.

We have a different view. Students fill out the FAFSA to determine whether they are eligible for federal student aid. Colleges use that information to alert students of the amount and type of aid that is available. Students must then confirm whether or not they want to take out a federal loan. Those who opt to borrow have to choose a loan provider and loan amount before their loans can be originated.

Regardless, students who fill out the FAFSA have an expectation of privacy. They don't expect the government or their school will turn over their private information to commercial interests.

We would like to know what if anything the University of Miami got for entering into this deal with Sallie Mae. The University's financial aid director told St. Petersburg Times that the university's "relationship" with Sallie Mae allowed it to legally transfer the student data based upon information students had provided on the FAFSA, but he would not elaborate on the terms of the deal the school struck with the loan company in 2003.

Colleges such as the University of Miami like to shortcircuit the student loan provider selection process so they can steer students to their favored lender. In the case of the University of Miami -- and in many others -- that lender is Sallie Mae, which controls, by itself and through its affiliates, about 96 percent of the school's total federal loan volume.

University financial aid administrators enter into agreements with Sallie Mae and others for a variety of reasons, one of which is that it makes their jobs much easier. Instead of having to worry about processing loans with multiple lenders, they can funnel student business to one loan provider, which also happens to provide gifts and payments to schools entering into such arrangements.

This pre-filled out master promissory note is a questionable business. It's one thing for an informed, impartial intermediary to recommend a lender. It's another for college aid offices to be in cohoots with a lender in order to actively shepherd unknowing and trusting students into a significant financial transaction.

In the case of the University of Miami, there are potential violations of federal higher education law and education rights privacy law. We hope the U.S. Education Department will investigate the situation at Miami and other institutions that steer their students to lenders that provide pre-filled out master promissory notes. Financial aid administrators have a sacred trust to safeguard their students' personal data. They certainly shouldn't be allowed to breach that trust just to make their lives easier.

A link that might be useful:
www.newamerica.net/blogs/education_policy/2007/10/selling_out_students_sallie_mae

You know dreamgarden, you chastised Tricia for talking about cheeseburgers when the issue was vending machines and now you C&P an article - no even better - a blog entry - about a university providing information to Sallie Mae when the issue was schools SELLING INFO TO CREDIT CARD COMPANIES.

Let's see how many different ways your C&P is not relevant to the discussion at hand:

1. Sallie Mae is not a credit card company.

2. The university did not sell private information to Sallie Mae.

3. The university stated that its position was that the students had applied for a federal loan so they provided the info to Sallie Mae.

So, would you care to try once again to respond on point? You can even Google to your heart's content. Or C&P some other idiot's blog.

BTW, since when did opinions expressed in blogs become evidence or proof of anything? I can find blogs from people who still think that the Apollo moon landing was faked or that the world is flat. However, I wouldn't be foolish enough to post their blog entries in support of that position.

But to get back to the issue at hand......

You remember the issue don't you? The one in which you stated that colleges were SELLING student's MOST VITAL PERSONAL INFORMATION to CREDIT CARD COMPANIES?

Show me any instance in the entire country where a college or alumni organization sold students' DOBs & SSNs to credit card companies.

My objection to the many credit card offers my son has received is that his mail is not secure, anyone can pick it up. Also, he hasn't the means to shred what he does get. It never occured to us that a shredder was another college expense.

When my son was in high school, they not only sold candy, but double shots of espresso. A girl can be expelled for having an asperin in her pocket but she can guzzle caffeine to her hearts content. I think it is hypocritical of the school to operate that way and it certainly impacts on the esteem in which the school administrators are held.

Also, he hasn't the means to shred what he does get. It never occured to us that a shredder was another college expense.

Do you realise that a shredder costs about $15?

Greg - no I didn't know that. Mine was $70 at Costco so I assumed that was the going price.

You can buy a cheap straight (vertical) cut shredder, but it's best to buy a cross-cut shredder, which does cost more.

Here's a thought for all the "free will" believers on this thread.

Someone else's free will isn't free to you. Obesity and associated diseases are an enormous drain on the health care system. A big chunk of every insurance premium dollar spent by someone who is health conscious and exercising their free will prudently is hived off to pay for the slobs among us.

So when our society adds a warning label to vending machines that says "and society will not pay for your obesity or its medical consequences you will be allowed to die a NATURAL death without UN-natural prolongation in any form" then I am ALL FOR VENDING MACHINES EVERYWHERE. Until then, external pressures to contain the behaviors of other people who will be insulated from the true cost effect of those behaviors is FINE BY ME.

You can buy a cheap straight (vertical) cut shredder, but it's best to buy a cross-cut shredder, which does cost more.

While it may be better to have a cross-cut shredder, I view the situation the same way I view being in a group of people running away from an axe murderer. You don't have to be the fastest one in the group ... just faster than the slowest person. :)
If I shred my documents with a cheap straight cut shredder, the potential identify thief will move on to somebody else that doesn't shred their stuff instead of trying to piece together my garbage.

bethesdamadman-"Show me any instance in the entire country where a college or alumni organization sold students' DOBs & SSNs to credit card companies."

You can find this 'instance' in the very first post, by the OP. Their link is titled "The College Credit-Card Hustle".

"Universities and their alumni associations have discovered an unlikely and disturbing source of revenue: Increasingly, they are selling students' personal information to big credit-card companies eager for young customers.

Bethesdamadman, you live in (near) Maryland, don't you? You didn't happen to catch this recent story, did you?

Does this article 'qualify' (as a serious enough identity breach by a university), or do they have to have SOLD this information first?

"UMD Releases Students' Social Security Numbers
July 18, 2008 - College Park, Md.

University of Maryland said Thursday they accidentally released the addresses and social security numbers of thousands of students.

The University of Maryland's Department of Transportation Services sent all students, a total of more than 23,000, registered for classes a brochure with on-campus parking information. It was sent by U.S. Mail. One student said, "That's really irresponsible for the university to do that."

The University discovered the labels on the mailing had the students' social security numbers on it as well. The brochure was sent using third class delivery and some students may still have not received the item.

Isha Misra, one of the students put on alert for identity theft, said she originally never thought twice about it. "I was on vacation."

The University said they apologized and deeply regretted the mistake. "We are initiating immediate action to ensure that this error does not recur. We strongly recommend that you take appropriate precautions to mask, black out or destroy this document after use," stated an e-mail, signed by DOTS Director David Allen.

The mailings were sent out July 1, but the problem was not discovered until July 8. A website was set up in response to the mistake. The university is offering free credit reports to students for free.

The problem happened when the labels were printed for the mailing. Staff members overlooked the numbers on the label, since the system can also print university identification numbers, as well as the SSN and addresses."

Links that might be useful:

www.wjla.com/news/stories/0708/536794.html
www.transportation.umd.edu/parkingmailer/

Actually dreamgarden, in the originally posted article it says:
Schools usually approve the contracts and provide access to student information such as e-mail addresses and phone numbers.
No mention of DOB or SSN. No information that is really all that private.

And the second example you gave is a mistake by the university. Yes is was a bad mistake, but it really has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Nothing to do with credit cards. They didn't mean to do it and didn't benefit from it. And they actually tried to make up for it by offering free credit reports.

For quite a few years, until I finally got a shredder, I burned credit card solicitations in my BBQ.