Quick Answer: Credit card companies paid U.S. colleges and their alumni associations $576 million between 2009 and 2024 in exchange for the right to recruit students and alumni into credit cards. The CFPB publishes the data publicly every year. Most people have never heard of it.
Your college has a contract with a credit card company. When you open a card through that deal, the school gets paid. My AI engine analyzed 15 years of federal data to find out exactly who’s getting paid, how much, and why it hasn’t stopped despite a federal law passed specifically to curtail it.
The data comes from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s College Credit Card Agreements database — a mandatory disclosure program created by the Credit CARD Act of 2009. Every issuer that has a marketing agreement with a college or university must report it annually. The numbers are exact. They are self-reported by the banks.
Here’s what 15 years of that data shows.
$576 Million Paid to Colleges Since 2009
At its peak in 2009, credit card companies paid colleges and their affiliates $84.5 million in a single year through 1,045 separate agreements. At that moment, more than 2 million open credit card accounts were tied to college marketing deals.
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The Credit CARD Act, signed in May 2009, required disclosure of these agreements and restricted certain marketing practices. Payments dropped sharply — from $84.5 million in 2009 to $28 million by 2015. A 76% reduction. An 87% reduction in active agreements.
But they never went to zero.
Related: what Synchrony’s own SEC filing reveals about credit card fees.
The practice didn’t end — it contracted and adapted. In 2024, 133 agreements remain active. Banks paid $20 million to colleges and their affiliates. 51,801 new accounts were opened under these deals. The pipeline from campus to credit card is smaller than it was in 2009. It is not closed.
The Year-by-Year Record
This table shows how much banks paid to colleges and alumni groups each year, and how many new accounts were recruited:
| Year | Paid to Schools | Agreements | New Accounts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | $84,462,767 | 1,045 | 55,747 |
| 2010 | $73,459,987 | 1,005 | 46,385 |
| 2011 | $62,508,677 | 796 | 43,227 |
| 2012 | $50,407,472 | 616 | 44,924 |
| 2013 | $42,934,507 | 447 | 53,699 |
| 2014 | $34,105,376 | 369 | 62,540 |
| 2015 | $28,092,278 | 289 | 53,753 |
| 2016 | $28,253,654 | 245 | 58,796 |
| 2017 | $24,448,154 | 254 | 67,866 |
| 2018 | $22,797,547 | 246 | 56,183 |
| 2019 | $24,980,457 | 226 | 48,017 |
| 2020 | $20,882,930 | 179 | 36,230 |
| 2021 | $19,765,170 | 158 | 47,007 |
| 2022 | $19,935,814 | 147 | 56,085 |
| 2023 | $19,342,048 | 133 | 46,759 |
| 2024 | $20,016,855 | 133 | 51,801 |
Source: CFPB College Credit Card Agreements and Data, 2009–2024
After hitting a floor of around $19–20 million from 2020 onward, payments have stabilized — not declined further. The remaining 133 agreements appear to be durable, long-term relationships that survived every round of reform.
The 20 Schools That Collected the Most — All Time
These are the colleges, alumni associations, and affiliated organizations that received the most in bank payments between 2009 and 2024, as reported to the CFPB:
| Institution / Affiliate | Total Received | Accounts Recruited |
|---|---|---|
| Penn State Alumni Association | $26,666,852 | 14,283 |
| University of Southern California | $15,842,227 | 22,109 |
| Purdue Alumni Association | $14,000,000 | 33,263 |
| University of Illinois Alumni Association | $12,035,882 | 22,270 |
| Ex-Students Association of UT Austin | $11,317,028 | 7,811 |
| Penn State Sports Properties LLC | $10,764,877 | 2,702 |
| Golden Key International Honour Society | $10,082,013 | 4,780 |
| Kansas State University Alumni Association | $9,676,961 | 4,033 |
| California Alumni Association (UC Berkeley) | $9,512,747 | 16,466 |
| Alumni Association of the University of Michigan | $9,210,405 | 5,972 |
| Kansas University Alumni Association | $9,014,267 | 3,751 |
| Harvard Alumni Association | $8,937,220 | 15,717 |
| Yale University | $8,697,208 | 1,465 |
| Stanford Alumni Association | $8,332,416 | 3,629 |
| Assoc. of Former Students of Texas A&M | $8,297,768 | 5,095 |
| General Alumni Assoc. of UNC Chapel Hill | $8,262,519 | 3,846 |
| Alumni Association of the University of Michigan (2nd entity) | $7,628,315 | 4,652 |
| UCLA Alumni Association | $6,595,761 | 15,101 |
| State University of Iowa Alumni Association | $6,346,834 | 3,881 |
| Board of Regents, University of Oklahoma | $6,000,000 | 467 |
Source: CFPB College Credit Card Agreements and Data, 2009–2024. All figures as self-reported by issuers.
Notice what’s on this list. Penn State. Harvard. Yale. Stanford. USC. These are not obscure schools with no other revenue sources. These are some of the most well-endowed universities in the country — and their alumni associations have collected tens of millions from banks over 15 years through credit card marketing deals.
The “Per Student” Bounty in 2024
The payment data takes on a different meaning when you look at it per new account recruited. A bank that pays $11,764 per new cardholder is not paying a referral fee — it is paying a bounty. That number implies the bank expects to collect far more than $11,764 from that customer over the life of the account.
In 2024, Penn State Sports Properties LLC — a commercial entity affiliated with Penn State — received $2,552,842 from Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union for 217 new accounts. That is $11,764 per new account.
Other 2024 payment-per-account figures:
- Stanford Federal Credit Union: $2,475 per new account (540 accounts, $1.34M paid)
- University of Southern California: $2,333 per new account (250 accounts, $583K paid)
- University of Oklahoma: $2,300 per new account (177 accounts, $407K paid)
- University of Michigan Alumni Association: $899 per new account (921 accounts, $828K paid)
- Texas A&M Former Students Association: $1,070 per new account (478 accounts, $512K paid)
These are not small payments for casual referrals. Banks paying $900–$11,000 per new cardholder are making a calculated bet that the lifetime revenue from that customer will justify the acquisition cost. The school is not just helping — it is enabling a transaction the bank considers worth paying thousands of dollars for.
The Alumni Association Workaround
One of the more revealing patterns in the 2024 data is who is receiving the payments.
Alumni associations hold more than half of all active agreements and receive more than twice as much in payments as the universities themselves. This matters because alumni associations are often legally separate entities from the university. They have their own boards, their own tax filings, and their own contractual authority.
The Credit CARD Act restricted how banks could market on campus to students. It did not restrict what alumni associations — off campus, targeting graduates — could do. The agreements migrated accordingly.
When your alumni association sends you a card offer with your school’s logo on it, there is a contract behind that logo. The CFPB publishes what it pays.
Who Has Been Doing This the Longest
Several institutions have had active agreements in every single year of the CFPB’s 16-year dataset — 2009 through 2024 without interruption:
- University of Illinois Alumni Association — 16 consecutive years, $12,035,882 total
- University of Missouri Alumni Association — 16 consecutive years, $4,957,466 total
- Iowa State University Alumni Association — 16 consecutive years, $4,896,632 total
- University of Miami — 16 consecutive years, $4,271,895 total
- Washington State University Alumni Association — 16 consecutive years, $3,390,486 total
- Brown Alumni Association — 16 consecutive years, $3,406,346 total
- Fordham University — 16 consecutive years, $2,723,933 total
- LSU Alumni Association — 16 consecutive years, $2,790,328 total
These are not opportunistic arrangements. These are permanent, institutionalized revenue streams. A school that has maintained the same type of credit card marketing agreement for 16 uninterrupted years has made a deliberate, sustained decision about its relationship with its alumni and students.
Who’s Paying (The Bank Side)
The largest single payer in the dataset is FIA Card Services, N.A. — the card-issuing arm of Bank of America — which paid over $261 million to schools across 2,995 agreements between 2009 and 2024. Bank of America as a named entity paid an additional $93.5 million. Combined, Bank of America-affiliated entities account for the majority of all school payments in the dataset.
Other significant issuers include U.S. Bank ($17.8M), INTRUST Bank ($16.5M), and Purdue Federal Credit Union ($16M). In recent years, credit unions have grown as a share of active agreements — likely because credit union cards are easier to brand around school affiliation and face less regulatory scrutiny than major bank products.
What this means for you: If you have a card with your school’s logo on it, or if your alumni association has promoted a credit card to you, there is almost certainly a payment agreement behind it. The terms of that agreement — and the dollar amount your school receives — are public record at the CFPB’s College Credit Card Agreements page. You can look it up.
What the CARD Act Did and Didn’t Do
Before 2009, these agreements largely existed in the dark. Banks could set up tables on campus, hand out free merchandise, and sign up students without any public disclosure. The CARD Act required disclosure and restricted some of the most aggressive on-campus marketing.
The results were real. Payments fell from $84.5 million in 2009 to $19.8 million in 2021 — a 77% drop. Active agreements fell from 1,045 to 133.
But the floor appears to have been reached. Since 2020, annual payments have held steady between $19.7 million and $20 million. The 133 agreements that remain active in 2024 are the same 133 that were active in 2023. They survived every regulatory tightening. They are the durable core of this practice — the deals where the school-bank relationship is strong enough that disclosure and reform have not been sufficient reason to end them.
The Credit CARD Act cut this practice by 77%. It did not end it. The remaining $20 million a year is not an accident — it is a choice that 133 institutions are making every year.— GetOutOfDebt.org AI Data Analysis
What to Do With This Information
If your school is on this list, that does not mean the credit card itself is bad. Some of these deals involve credit unions with genuinely competitive rates and products that serve alumni well. The issue is not the product — it is the financial incentive structure behind the recommendation.
When your alumni association promotes a credit card, they are not doing so as neutral advisors acting in your financial interest. They have a contract. They receive payment. The card that benefits your school the most financially is not necessarily the card that benefits you the most financially.
- Look up your school at the CFPB’s College Credit Card Agreements database before applying for any alumni-branded card
- Compare the rate and terms against non-affiliated cards before deciding
- Consider what the school earns per account — a $900-per-account bounty tells you how much the bank values acquiring you as a customer
- Ask whether the recommendation is in your interest or the institution’s interest — these are not always the same thing
Key Takeaways
- Credit card companies paid U.S. colleges and alumni groups $576 million from 2009 to 2024 under CFPB-disclosed agreements
- The Credit CARD Act cut this practice 77% — but 133 active agreements remain, with $20M paid annually
- Penn State-affiliated entities lead all-time at $37.4M combined ($26.7M alumni association + $10.8M sports properties)
- In 2024, banks paid as much as $11,764 per new account recruited — a bounty, not a referral fee
- Alumni associations now hold 51% of all agreements and receive 52% of payments — the practice migrated off campus after 2009 reforms
- The data is public. The CFPB publishes it. Now you know where to look.
Want to see what’s inside the contracts? The payment data shows what schools collected. The actual contracts show what they agreed to do for it — minimum marketing quotas, student mailing lists handed over free, and bank approval required before announcing a switch. My AI engine read 126 of them. Here’s what the fine print says.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is it illegal for colleges to accept payments from credit card companies?
- No. The Credit CARD Act of 2009 requires disclosure of these agreements but does not prohibit them. Schools must report the payments received and accounts opened to the CFPB annually. The data analyzed here is that required disclosure.
- Where does this data come from?
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s College Credit Card Agreements and Data database, which covers reporting years 2009 through 2024. Issuers are required to self-report all agreements with institutions of higher education and their affiliates. The full dataset is publicly available on the CFPB website.
- Does having an alumni credit card hurt your finances?
- Not necessarily. The concern is not the card itself but the conflict of interest in the recommendation. An alumni association promoting a card because they receive $900–$11,000 per new account opened is not acting as a neutral financial advisor. Whether the card is competitive for you depends on its rate, fees, and rewards compared to alternatives — not on the school logo.
- Which school collected the most money overall?
- Penn State-affiliated entities lead the 15-year dataset. The Penn State Alumni Association collected $26,666,852, and Penn State Sports Properties LLC collected an additional $10,764,877 — a combined $37.4 million across the two entities.
- Are credit unions the same as banks in these deals?
- In terms of disclosure requirements and data reporting, yes — credit unions that have marketing agreements with colleges must report them to the CFPB just as banks do. In 2024, many of the largest remaining agreements involve credit unions rather than major banks, including Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (Penn State), Boeing Employees’ Credit Union (University of Washington), and Purdue Federal Credit Union (Purdue).
- Can I look up whether my school has one of these agreements?
- Yes. The CFPB College Credit Card Agreements database is publicly searchable at consumerfinance.gov. Search by institution name to see any active or historical agreements, the issuer involved, payments received, and accounts opened.
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