You can find them hanging in most lecture halls, waiting to be seen on dorm bulletin boards, sitting in mail boxes and even being passed out by other students on campus. And many people are falling into their trap.

They are credit card applications, and they are causing the largest source of debt in the United States, according to Mary Sites, a counselor at Consumer Credit Counseling.

Credit card companies come to the universities with applications, and students think that it is great, because then they can go shopping, Sites said.

Consumer Credit Counseling in Kent is trying to help students and anyone else get back on their feet after getting too far into debt. It provides free services of debt management to try to work out a payment plan between the client and the creditors.

Credit card companies are targeting the teens from 16 on up, Sites said. This is because if they start to develop a spending habit early, then that will mean more money to the companies in the long run.

One Kent State junior fashion major has fallen prey to the credit card companies, and she is now beginning to regret it. The 20-year-old is about $27,000 in debt.

The majority, $22,000 of that, is from student loans from the past three years, but the other $5,000 is from credit cards and other bills.

Over the last two years, she has accumulated 10 different credit cards including two Master Cards, a Visa, and a Discover card.

The other six are from small department stores. Recently, after having problems paying all of these bills, she cancelled all of the cards except for the four major ones.

Each month her bills add up to over $600, and her part time job is bringing in only about $500.

This month, she said, her bills are going to have to be late because rent is her first priority, and she cannot afford to pay everything.

A lot of the things that she bought were necessities, she said, such as books and supplies for her fashion classes. She does admit buying some things such as a VCR, a phone, clothing, groceries, and a lot of cigarettes.

These things have added up, and now she cannot make ends meet.

"Sometimes I wish it would all just go away, but I know it won't," she said. This student is not the only one finding herself in debt due to credit cards. Out of the 1,000 to 1,200 households that the agency helps per year, 20 percent are students, Sites said.

Most students do not have a lot of money, so they use the cards, but then they cannot make the payments, Sites said. These credit cards can really trash someone's credit history before he or she even enters the working world. A good credit rating is important, she said.

Another problem is that because students do not have a credit background, they have to settle for higher interest rates.

The average APR for a student is about 19 percent, but it can sometimes be in the mid-20s, said Matt Bellin, a branch banker from Second National Bank in Kent. They are just so glad to get the account that they accept anything, he said.

It is really easy to get caught up with these cards, but students should be thinking of the future.

"What is this going to do to me after I graduate? How is this going to hurt me tomorrow?" Bellin said. "If you don't have the money to spend, don't spend it."

Bad credit can stick for nine years, Bellin said.

He said he has had some people come in who have graduated and are out making money, but their payment records from college get them denied from buying a house. It will come back to haunt you, he said.

An employee from Ravenna's National City Bank recommends that students get one credit card for important things and never buy more then they can pay off.

"People buy on wants instead of needs," he said.