Question: My husband and I were divorced two-and-a-half years ago, when our oldest son began college. Although it’s been difficult, we have been able to pay for most of his schooling. Because of our financial situation, however, our son has taken part-time jobs to help make ends meet. We have just found out that he has run up more than $8,000 in debt on four different credit cards. He says the solicitations all came to his university post office box, which tells me that someone is selling his name. How can he get four credit cards without asking while I, a divorced woman, can’t manage even one? And, how can we help him get out of debt?

Answer: There are dozens of ways that banks and credit card companies get the names and addresses of college students (and just about everyone else). Even worse, it’s legal, according to the Federal Trade Commission and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Some colleges and universities sell the names and addresses of their students even though they claim they don’t. But we can’t blame the colleges for everything because there are all sorts of other ways for "list companies" -- firms that compile and sell names from their computer database – to get student names and addresses.

For example, the student telephone directory contains a lot of information. And if a student has subscribed to a magazine or newspaper, his or her name is in a computer somewhere. Some students have use of their parents’ credit cards already, and may have answered a direct mail solicitation or questionnaire. And if a student orders yearbooks, student pictures, university paraphernalia, or catalog items, his/ her name and address is in a computer and can be accessed with the push of a button.

Your son's name could also have been obtained through "prescreening," a process by which a consumer reporting agency creates a list of potential credit applicants for consumer lenders based on credit criteria that lenders specify. Although the FTC says this is legal, it is difficult for us to understand why any lender in his right mind would think that a college student with no job -- or only a part-time job -- is a better credit risk than a working single parent.

We think this is because the lenders believe that if the student gets too deeply in debt, the parents will bail him/her out. But when the parent gets the student off the hook by paying off the debt, the credit card company sends the student invitations to get new cards with higher spending limits based on his “good payment history”.

What can be done? While we would normally suggest that you contact your congressmen, today that would be a waste of time. Federal and state deficits are on the rise, meaning that Congress and state legislatures have about as much self-discipline when it comes to spending money as do unemployed students.

These same officials, remember, passed the creditor-oriented Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005 that no longer views consumers as needing relief from debt and a “fresh start”. Now, these same creditors who provided your son with the ability to incur more debt than he could pay have the upper hand, and debtors are virtually tarred and feathered.

Credit counseling might help your son, but with our governmental leaders swiping the proverbial credit card more frequently every day, our elected officials are teaching bad habits.