BEST CREDIT CARDS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

Best Credit Cards for College Students – Charge Wisely & Build Your Credit History

                A review of the best credit cards for college students can have two very different outcomes depending on whether the student is responsible enough with money to pay off the bill when they sign up for a credit card.

Who Should Have a Student Card?

                            For students that will carry a balance, the best credit card is no card at all; too many students leave college with enormous debt due to an inability to pay off the things they charge on their cards.
On the other hand, if you’re good enough with money to only buy the necessary items and pay off your balance each month then a student credit card can be a good way to build your credit history.
Reasons Not to Open a Credit Card

             Let’s start off by looking at the reasons why you shouldn’t apply for a student credit card. 
You shouldn’t open a line of credit if you’re doing so on a whim.  You’ve all probably seen booths on campus where you can get free food, T-shirts, or other items in exchange for filling out a credit card application.  Trust the thousands of students deep in debt across the country who would tell you emphatically that the free stuff isn’t worth the card.

                Avoid a credit card if you don’t have a plan for how to use it or an income to pay it off.  This goes along with not opening a credit card on a whim; you should know what expenses you’ll put on the card and where the money will come from to pay off the balance each month.

             If you’re an impulse shopper, don’t get a credit card. The temptation to buy something in the heat of the moment and figure out later how to pay for it will be too great.  Save yourself hassle and a lot of interest payments and don’t sign up for a student card.

Lastly, here’s a list of common credit card mistakes that college students should avoid.


Benefits of a Credit Card

          When I was in college I used a credit card to pay for certain miscellaneous expenses.  I didn’t have a big bill every month so I made enough from my campus job to pay off the balance and after four years I had established a flawless credit history.

Build a Good Credit History


  Buying a House – For example, when my wife and I went to buy a house a few years out of school, I was eligible for a great interest rate based on my credit history.  My wife on the other hand never had a credit card or any type of loan payment so she had zero credit history. 
Putting her name on the loan would have required us to pay a higher rate on the money we were borrowing so we left her off entirely. She was kind of upset, she had avoided opening a credit card in college to be financially safe but down the road her lack of a credit report worked against her.

No Late Payments or Balances – A key point to remember here is that this approach only works if you make your payments on time each month and don’t leave school with a pile of credit card debt.  A history of missed payments or a big balance will hurt, rather than help, your credit score.
Choosing a Credit Card

The criteria for finding the right credit card for college students should be:

• No annual fee
• Low annual percentage rate (APR)
• Free online account access and management

            The emphasis here is on keeping any fees to a minimum and making it easy to manage and pay your credit card bill.  Even though you don’t want to carry a balance, you should still look for the lowest APR in the event there’s a month where you’re charged interest. Most of the student cards offer an introductory period where you pay 0% interest but remember it’s only for a short time period, typically 3 – 6 months, and then the APR goes up.

               One other thing to look for in a student credit card is a free rewards program.  If you’re not going to be putting a lot of expenses on your card then it’s not as important but if you plan on charging larger amounts then a rewards program can pay off.

Best Student Credit Cards

In terms of APR, the Citi Platinum Select Card for College Students has the lowest rate available today for students.  Since it has the best interest rate along with no annual fee and free online account management it would be a good choice.  The one thing it doesn’t offer is a rewards program, which leads us to the next student card.

The Discover Student Card doesn’t have the lowest interest rate but it does feature one of the better APRs for students and it comes with a free rewards program.  The rewards are higher (5%) for certain categories of purchases and 1% on everything else.  Unlike the Citi Platinum Select, the Discover Student card application doesn’t ask any income questions, just be sure you make enough to cover whatever you charge on the card.

Discover also offers the Discover Student Open Road Card which gives 5% back on the first $100 of combined gas and auto maintenance purchases each month.  One nice thing about the Discover rewards program is that your rewards are redeemable in $20 increments.  Meaning you don’t to wait until you’ve earned $50 in rewards like a lot of other credit cards.

Charge Wisely        If you’re smart about how you use credit in school you can graduate and enter the “real world” with a good credit history.  If it sounds like too much work to manage a credit card or too much temptation to overspend then you’re better off just paying by cash or check in your college years.
This review of the best student credit cards and how to build/protect your credit history in school is part of the College Student Money Guide.         When I went to rent an apartment right out of school the building manager was very pleased when he ran my credit report and commented at how very few college grads have a positive credit history.  With more and more businesses using your credit report to gauge risk, having a positive history once you leave school can be very helpful.