Colleges, alumni associations and related groups were paid $83.5 million last year under agreements to issue branded credit cards.

There were about 1,000 agreements between credit card issuers and such groups in 2009, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve.

Of those, about 40 percent were with colleges and 33 percent were from alumni associations. The rest of the agreements were with foundations and other organizations affiliated with universities.

The agreements resulted in the opening of about 53,200 accounts last year alone.