Should universities profit from secret deals with credit card companies?
In 2002, the Ohio State alumni association, acting with the university’s approval, signed a contract to give MBNA the email addresses, mail addresses and phone numbers for 55,000 undergraduate students in exchange for a guaranteed minimum-payment and credit-card royalties from the affinity credit cards that the bank would sell to students. Under the contract, the credit card company was allowed to conduct at least five direct mail marketing campaigns each year in addition to three annual phone solicitations. While the credit card company also received information about faculty, staff and the parents of students, the company was explicitly prohibited from contacting these groups by phone. The credit card company was also allowed access to the university campus, where it could use a variety of marketing tactics to pursue students in-person. Ohio State is far from unique; This week, Businessweek reveals that financial relationships between university alumni associations and the credit car
