| For
immediate release -- Friday, April 28, 1998. |
Miller: Beware of "Campus Card" Solicitation
Attorney General says official-looking solicitation is not required of new college students and is not connected to colleges and universities.
DES MOINES-- Attorney General Tom Miller today warned high school seniors and their parents not to be deceived by an official-looking mailing urging them to acquire a "Campus Card" student ID card."This card is not required, and we are not aware of any public or private college or university in Iowa that honors the card," Miller said.
"Do not send off the $25 fee in the mistaken belief that this is required and sanctioned by colleges," Miller said. "We believe this is a private and completely optional solicitation."
The mailing is from the "National College Registration Board," Research Park, Princeton, New Jersey -- which apparently has no connection to the "College Board" SAT testing organization there. It says, "The Campus Card is the student identification card issued to all registered college students."
Miller said his office was compelled to issue the warning because the mailing apparently has been sent to parents of high school seniors all over Iowa. Iowa State University alerted the Consumer Protection Division about the questionable mailing, and parents in Miller's Office also received the mailing Wednesday.
Miller sent a fax letter Thursday to "The National College Registration Board" directing them to stop sending any solicitations to Iowans or parents of students attending Iowa colleges and universities -- and to provide refunds if persons had sent in funds.
"I urge any Iowa parents to contact our office if they responded to the solicitation and think they may have been deceived," Miller said. (Consumer Protection Division, Des Moines, Iowa 50319. Phone 515-281-5926.)
The National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) issued a bulletin Tuesday indicating that their name "was used without permission or notification" by the "Campus Card" solicitation. "NACUBO has no relationship with this promotion and does not in any way endorse the product offered," the notice said. NACUBO was listed as a "member association" in the National College Registration Board solicitation.
The solicitation says "Incoming freshmen need to return the enclosed form along with the one-time $25 card fee postmarked no later than May 15, 1998." It also asks for the student's photo and for codes indicating the student's major and college or university.