Laptops ready? Take notes: Congress wants it to be harder for the under-21 set to accrue a mountain of credit card debt.

A new federal law affects credit card holders -- and those who want cards -- of all ages. But because several provisions don't take effect until February, this could be the last semester of truly easy credit for many college students.

``I don't want to say credit cards are evil,'' said Cathy Pareto, a certified financial planner in Coral Gables. ``But targeting that demographic has long been an abusive practice. [Credit card companies] take advantage of the naïvete of teenagers.''

A recent survey by student loan manager Sallie Mae said that the average amount of debt carried by undergraduate cardholders is $3,173 -- up 46 percent from five years ago. And the average number of credit cards these students have is about five.

Peter Pham, CEO of BillShrink.com, summarized the parts of the law that affect young people like this:

• People under 21 will need a parent or guardian to co-sign for their credit card, unless they can show proof of income or a means of repaying debt -- just like older customers have to. Instead of automatic increases in the card's credit limit, the co-signer has to consent to a bigger credit line.

• Credit card issuers won't be able to market pre-screened offers to people younger than 21.

• Colleges, universities and alumni associations will have to disclose agreements they make with credit card marketers that allow sharing the contact information of students and alums.

• Credit card companies won't be able to give away freebies such as T-shirts or pizza on college campuses or at college events in exchange for filling out a credit card application.

• Minors will still be allowed to be authorized users on their parents' credit cards.

Part of the reason getting younger customers hooked on credit cards has been so important is because ``traditionally, young people are new consumers and they keep their first credit card the longest,'' said Christine Lindstrom, higher education program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

And they generally don't do extensive research about their first card or all of its requirements, she said.

``If you're hungry and you're facing a hot piece of pizza you're not going to look and see what the interest rate is,'' she said. ``If you were in a bank you'd be asking these questions.''

Soliciting college students on campus had gotten so out of hand some campuses banned it entirely, including the entire California university system.

Miami Dade College and the University of Florida say they don't let credit card companies offer students goodies in exchange for filling out a credit card application. Miami Dade goes one step further: The college has no agreements that allow card companies on any of its eight campuses.

``More than half of our students are already on financial aid,'' Chief Financial Officer E.H. Levering said. ``I'm not sure philosophically that makes sense.''

But while new practices to keep card companies' aggressive marketing tactics in check are welcome, Lindstrom said, many college students would argue that credit should flow freely.

``Costs are going up. Folks are relying on credit cards to pay for textbooks and transportation back and forth to school -- even tuition,'' she said.

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