Students across the nation are struggling with heavy school loan burdens.

As University of Oregon student Craig Garcia notes, that load is not made lighter by accepting special university credit cards:

Credit cards and student loans are the two primary sources of debt in America. Soon enough, envelopes for both of those bills may be stamped with the Oregon “O.”

The university has made a deal with Visa to create a credit aptly named “The Duck Card,” which displays the UO logo prominently on the front of the card. But if you’re a student, that’s the only benefit.

Here’s a quick crash course in economics: Among the 20 million Americans that go to college, 60 percent borrow annually to cover their tuition, according to a study from the Chronicle of Higher Education. That statistic isn’t all that shocking, but according to Sallie Mae, 92 percent of undergraduates are currently using credit cards to pay for their education.

A prominent contributor to the uptick in credit card debt is the more than 900 partnerships with colleges and banks or universities. Banks and credit card companies offer students exclusive credit cards, which usually offer nothing special except for the school logo and high interest rates.

According to CreditCards.com, the average annual percentage rate for a credit card is 14.96 percent for 2013. Once the 12 months of adding no annual percentage rate concludes, the APR goes up to 18.99 percent. The APR is the annual rate that you have to pay on top of the purchases on your card.

“I’ll be honest, credit cards kind of freak me out,” said former UO student Jake Faust, who dropped out of the university to attend Lane Community College to save money. He will return to UO once he earns his associate degree.

“I understand they’re needed to build up credit, but I’ve been duped over before with all of the hidden fees that are attached to cards. I have one, but I don’t even think it’s activated yet.” While at UO, Faust was offered dozens of credit cards until he accepted one from MasterCard. Faust stopped using the card once he was blindsided by the high interest rates.

Students at Portland State and Southern Oregon universities were also blindsided by their universities’ partnership with MasterCard, which eventually led to student protests in 2004. MasterCard was charging students 50 cents every time they swiped a MasterCard credit card. On top of that, MasterCard would only have the debit option available for its cards, making students consent to having a third party know their personal identification and banking numbers.

Outside of the UO’s partnership with Visa, the university doesn’t have any relationships with outside banks or other credit card companies. The closest debit card that the UO offers to students is campus cash, a prepaid card used for campus stores such as the Duck Store or campus coffee shops.