DeKALB | Some students noticed that “free” food does not usually come without some sort of catch.

Papa John’s Pizza, located at 203 W. Lincoln Highway, is running the most recent special. The pizza place is giving away free large, one-topping pizzas and a choice of a T-shirt or a play basketball hoop if students apply for Discover and U.S. Bank credit cards.

Some students who attended the promotion learned of the catch and walked away. Others took advantage.

“I’m just here for pizza,” said junior communication major Teryn Davidson. “I’m just going to cancel the credit card.”

While neither card has an annual fee, the Discover student credit card has an annual percentage rate, or APR, of 16.99 percent. The College Rewards Visa card from U.S. Bank has a varying APR of 14.24 percent to 23.24 percent.

“[There is] no way it can hurt their credit unless it’s used poorly,” said finance professor Gerald Jensen.

Students can benefit from having a credit card by establishing a credit history, as long as it is used responsibly, he said.

Mary Pritchard, associate dean of the college of health and human sciences, sees this offer as just another form of marketing for the restaurants and the credit companies.

Students can benefit from getting free food, but restaurants get visibility from the promotions.

“We get publicity that we’re here in town,” said Rob Scott, general manager of Papa John’s. “To everyone that comes in, I get to fill them in about our NIU OneCard special.”

Just because someone applies for these credit cards, however, does not mean they will be approved, nor does it mean the student has to activate the card.

Should the credit card application be accepted, the student will receive information from the card company and a telephone number to activate the card, said independently marketing representative Nic Rao.

Pritchard said it would still show on the students’ credit reports that they had a credit card.

Rao compared acceptance to an employment opportunity.

“If you apply for a job, it doesn’t mean you get the job,” Rao said. “Even if you get the job, it doesn’t mean you have to keep it.”

Pritchard recommends students save their receipts, monitor their purchases and check their bills, just in case of errors.

Michelle Gilbert is a City Reporter for the Northern Star.