Free iPods, cash rewards, official-looking federal government seals—these are just a few of the tactics that private loan companies have been using to lure students.

Earlier this month, eight student loan companies were forced to comply with a marketing code of conduct after an extensive investigation into such questionable practices. The private lenders were accused of making misleading statements about loans and using strategies purposefully aimed to deceive students.

The eight companies entering the agreement include Campus Door, EduCap, GMAC Bank, Graduate Loan Associates, Nelnet, NextStudent and Xanthus Financial Services. The eighth company, My Rich Uncle, agreed to comply with the standards voluntarily.

The investigations were conducted by New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo after a long and complex inquiry into the student loan process.

In a press release on his Web site, Cuomo stated that “these settlements are a major step forward in cleaning up an industry where false and misleading advertising practices have been all too rampant.”

The student loan business is notorious for its long history of dubious practices.

Last year, an investigation revealed that lenders were offering university officials benefits such as vacations to the Caribbean and free rounds of golf in exchange for promoting their loan services.

Officials with Student Financial Services at Washington University say that it has had little to do with these incidents.

“Some of these direct marketing practices bypassed the authority of the school,” Connie Bradford, a loan manager at the University who works behind the scenes to approve loans, said. “We almost always deal with lenders who make an effort to find out about the students to whom they’re lending.”

Overall, however, students should still be wary of procuring loans through private companies.

“When our office receives requests from private lenders asking us to certify such loans for Wash. U. students, we intervene by contacting those students to make sure the students know what they are getting themselves into and to suggest other, more favorable ways to access the funds they need,” Director of Student Financial Services Bill Witbrodt said.