Rodney M. Glasgow '01 doesn't lie when he applies for credit cards. He always lists his annual income as about $2,000--a normal figure for most college students.

So Glasgow says he has been surprised during these three years in college to find companies that would respond to his applications with lines of credit that often exceeded his income for the entire year.

Indeed between all the cards currently in his wallet, Rodney says he has more than $8,000 in available credit--enough to buy a used car or a brand new wardrobe on a whim.

"It's clear that if I maxed out all my cards, I would never in my life be able to pay it off," he jokes.

But laughing aside, Glasgow says he is almost relieved only to have $1,000 debt to pay off, a figure dramatically lower than the several thousands he owed not long ago.

Sadly, though, Glasgow's credit plight is becoming less the exception and more the reality both at Harvard and on college campuses across the country.

Buoyed by a booming economy and a culture that encourages spending, college students are increasingly relying on the easy money offered by credit cards--and they're running up debts to prove it.

Although the problem seems still in its infancy at Harvard, administrators, consumer advocates and government officials say they are struggling to address the rising debt before it spirals ever more out of control.