Battle Over Colleges and Credit Cards Reaches Showdown in Iowa

By Paul Basken

For more than a decade, American universities have fended off complaints that they take millions of dollars from banks that issue college-branded credit cards, while leaving some of their own students staggered by mounting loan debt.

Today, after weeks of revelations into the details of those arrangements at Iowa's leading public universities, the state legislature in Des Moines begins hearings that critics hope will help stem the practice in Iowa and nationwide.