UI The Daily Iowan, IA
10-30-07
UISG targets debt
Amanda McClure - The Daily Iowan
DES MOINES - With possible national implications, representatives from UI
Student Government met in front of a joint Government Oversight Committee in
Des Moines on Monday to discuss the growing credit-card concern on the UI campus.
Matt Pfaltzgraf, the UISG government-relations liaison, and Barrett Anderson, the
UISG president, brought their presentation before the committee outlining the major concerns and potential solutions in hopes that legislators will take action.
"Students don't have to accumulate so much debt while they're at school,"
Pfaltzgraf said. "Less-severe marketing tactics and educational programs have the potential to cut down on the amount of money students borrow."
The presentation outlined three major aspects of the financial crisis facing UI students and proposed ideas on how to reverse the problem.
UISG sees responsible credit marketing as the first step in reducing the amount of debt students accrue during their time on campus. Pfaltzgraf believes that improper marketing techniques geared toward students, such as gifts or signing bonuses, should not be allowed.
"Students sign up for the gifts not realizing the amount of possible debt that comes with it," Pfaltzgraf said.
The presentation mentioned the Alumni Association credit card that students apply for in order to get the gifts. With UI President Sally Mason's recent decision to refuse the Alumni Association the ability to market toward students, solicitation from other companies may also decrease.
The presentation also included a section dealing with the amount of state financial aid appropriated to students each year, as well as a proposal for moneymanagement education.
Both Anderson and Pfaltzgraf said financial education needs to start in high school so that students can learn what they're getting in to.
"We have Student Legal Services, and we think Student Credit Services would greatly benefit the campus," Anderson said.

Student finances, which started out as a side project for Pfaltzgraf, has grown into a much greater concern causing national debt analysts to look to the UI for the next move.
"People are looking to Iowa to set standards for this kind of thing, he said. "The
UI is the first school to propose something like this. It will definitely have a ripple effect on the way other schools start to do business."
Pfaltzgraf is hopeful that legislators will be willing to help with their cause.
"We've been working closely with administrators, and everyone's behind us," he said. "This is our chance to get the ball rolling and make a difference."
The Government Oversight Committee also listened to representatives from
Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.
E-mail DI reporter Amanda McClure at: amanda-mcclure@uiowa.edu