• The Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, August 22, 2007 11:30 AM

Car-sharing companies see a lucrative new market in college students, a population that has been largely ignored by the traditional mega rental-car companies. The companies, such as Flexcar and Zipcar, which allow customers to rent cars for hours or days, are now cutting partnerships with schools nationwide.

Flexcar is set to announce deals with Arizona State University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and this month, it added Ohio State University, the nation's largest school by enrollment last year. Zipcar, the world's largest car-sharing company, says it is targeting between 10 and 15 new schools this fall, including Yale University and Carnegie Mellon University, bringing its total to more than 40.

Both companies are also lowering their age requirement at many universities to just 18, making cars available to most of the student body, which they say is under-served. The companies also hope to cement students' loyalty while they are in college -- and then keep them as customers after graduation.

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