Sen. Carl Levin pointed toward college students as a demographic that's particularly vulnerable to the policies of credit card companies during a visit to campus.

He led a discussion with MSU students about the various abuses of the credit card industry Friday at the Administration Building.

"You, who are students, are the juiciest targets out there," he said. "You have to make payments on books and tuition, and they know you have a future income on the way."

A group of nearly 15 students, mainly comprised of ASMSU representatives, listened and asked questions while Levin spoke. ASMSU is MSU's undergraduate student government.

Levin said he wasn't going to permit credit card companies to charge clients unfairly.

"You shouldn't pay interest for money that you pay on time," Levin said. "People who pay their bills are treated unfairly."

Giving a hypothetical example of abusive policies, Levin described a circumstance in which a man buys Christmas presents for $6,100 and pays $6,000 of his debt on time.

"Now you get your next bill, you owe a $100 and interest on the $100," Levin said. "Is that it? It isn't.

"They charge you interest on the entire $6,100 because you didn't pay the entire amount."

Levin, chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, released a report in 2006 that examined 28 popular credit card brands and found they took advantage of families.

This year, the subcommittee held a hearing with three major credit card companies.

"We confronted them with the abuses that have been going on, and one of them changed their policies," Levin said.

Political science junior Eric Hinojosa has run into problems with credit card companies and said he appreciated Levin's visit.

"One of the most valuable things was him coming to listen to students," Hinojosa said. "Hearing that this is being looked into is good."

Hinojosa said he has been taken advantage of by "predatory practices by lenders."

"I paid a day late on something, and my interest rate skyrocketed to 30 percent," he said. "Having (credit card companies) confronted is important."

Melissa Horste, a member of ASMSU and an international relations and journalism senior, said the discussion was enlightening.

"Paying the penalty on money you already paid? I never realized that," Horste said. "This is something they care about that does affect students."