College students and their parents may be relieved that Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act has finally gone live this week. After all, many of the law s provisions are designed to protect college kids from issuers aggressive marketing and high-interest cards.

But Mom, Dad and their college-age offspring would be wrong to think that CARD will keep credit-card issuers at a safe distance, says Christine Lindstrom, the higher education program director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a consumer-advocate group. Yes, issuers are barred from luring students with a free slice of pizza or T-shirt to sign up for a credit card but they can give out the freebies if they don t require students to sign up for the card in return. And credit-card companies are already looking for other ways to reach college students, including appealing to parents (who may need to co-sign for the cards, and thereby become responsible for unpaid balances).

The market is a lucrative one. According to a 2009 study by Sallie Mae, an originator of student college loans, 84% of undergraduates have at least one credit card, up from 76% in 2004. Eight-two percent of college students carry balances average mean balances stand at a record $3,173 and incur finance charges each month. And seniors graduate with more than $4,100 in credit-card debt on average, up from around $2,900 in 2004.

Credit-card issuers are still going to make credit available to college students because they are some of the best candidates for credit, says Ruth Susswein, a deputy director at Consumer Action, a consumer advocate organization. College students generate profits for credit-card companies by not paying their balances in full. And in the long term, they tend to hold on to their first credit card for life, she says.

Here s what college students can expect in terms of marketing and underwriting standards.

Freebies still being given out

The CARD Act prohibits credit-card issuers from giving out free stuff to students in exchange for filling out a credit-card application on college campuses, at college-sponsored events, or within 1,000 feet of them.

But it leaves a huge loophole: Card issuers can still give out freebies as long as they don t require students to sign up for a credit card. That means that credit-card companies can still hawk free stuff on campus for promotion, says Susswein.

At least two major issuers Citigroup and Bank of America say they won t. As a matter of policy, Citi has not marketed student credit card products to young adults on or near college campuses in over two years," says Citi spokesman Samuel Wang. And Bank of America spokeswoman Betty Riess says the bank is not conducting campus tabling events to market credit cards to students.

Marketing to students parents

Credit-card issuers are also tapping into students parents. Discover is mailing credit-card marketing materials to parents homes, says spokesman Matthew Towson. We currently acquire most student accounts through direct mail and the Internet, he says. We do not expect to change our approach in light of the legislative changes.

And Wells Fargo is considering marketing its college-student credit cards through parents who are existing customers. We may be looking at that now and do that in the future, says Dinna Martinez, a product manager of student credit cards at Wells Fargo.

Using financial literacy as a promotional tool

The CARD Act recommends that colleges provide education about credit cards and debt during student orientation. But credit-card companies may also use financial literacy to promote their cards.

For example, when a college student signs up for their first credit card with Wells Fargo, they can take an online quiz on credit management and in turn receive a reward, which is currently a free Fandango movie ticket. We ve been doing this for about six to seven years and we ve always had an incentive, says Martinez. (The bank changes the reward based on customer response.)

Verifying your (or a cosigner s) income

To get approved for a credit card, students under 21 will need to show proof that they can repay their debt or they ll need a cosigner (who is at least age 21).

If a student goes at it alone, he would have to provide the credit-card issuer with information about his wages (like pay stubs), brokerage statements showing interest income from investments, or bank account statements showing savings, says Lindstrom.

Exact terms will vary by company. Discover s Towson says that full-time students under age 21 will need to show verifiable income that s above $2,000 a year and must have an acceptable debt to income ratio to qualify for the Discover Student card. When students use a cosigner who isn t a full-time student, the cosigner will need to earn at least $15,000 a year to be considered for a Discover card.

Not all issuers may accept cosigners

As of now, American Express doesn t have plans to offer a cosigning option, says spokeswoman Desiree Fish. However, students under 21 but over 18 who can t get an American Express card on their own can have an existing AmEx user add them to their account.

Cosigning on Capital One cards, meanwhile, remains in question. Spokeswoman Pam Girardo says the bank historically hasn t used cosigners extensively but that it s exploring its options. [We] continue to look for consumers who have the means to independently pay, she says.