5 Best Credit Cards for College Students

College years might as well be Dickensian. They are the best of times; they are the worst of times. In the midst of earning a bachelor’s degree while transitioning to adulthood, college students are expected to learn the ropes of financial literacy.

Such expectations would be justified if they came with the proper education. Instead, students are told they don’t possess financial knowledge. And when they express their desire for this kind of training, students are presented with financial literacy programs that, more often than not, don’t work.

Sure, there are people, not just college students, who should stay away from credit cards. But this kind of generalization does more harm than good. A simple Google search yields a wealth of opinion pieces that list and recycle reasons (such as risk of debt, students considering everything an emergency, they don’t know how to save, and risk of identity theft, among other things) that college students should not use plastic. In addition to these are the tales of people drowning in credit card debt. They discourage students when they should aim to be nothing more than a precaution.

5 Best Credit Cards for College Students

According to Sallie Mae’s 2016 Majoring in Money report, 56 percent of college students use credit cards, nearly double of the 30 percent who used plastic in 2013. Among students aged 18 to 20, 43 percent use credit cards. Meanwhile, 63 percent of college students aged 21 to 22 have their own credit cards compared to 71 percent of those aged 23 to 24.

Here are the five best credit cards for college students.

Journey® Students Rewards from Capital One®

Credit cards can not only be convenient; they can also provide incentives for responsible use.

Capital One’s Journey® Student Rewards not only boasts a $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, it also has a cash back program. This credit card for college students earns you back 1 percent on all your purchases, and for each month you pay on time, you are guaranteed another 0.25 percent cash back bonus. One percent may not seem like a lot, but 1 percent of every purchase can quickly add up. The rewards can then be redeemed as a statement credit or a check in $25 increments.

Other perks include gaining access to a higher credit line when you make you your first five payments on time and Capital One’s CreditWise feature, which includes a what if simulator that can be used to predict credit score changes and debt load based on hypothetical financial actions.

Discover it® for Students

Discover offers two of the best credit cards for college students—one has cash back rewards while the other offers gas and restaurant rewards.

The Discover it® Student Cash Back credit card allows you to earn 5 percent cash back for purchases in quarterly rotating spending categories, like department stores, gas stations and Amazon, up to a $1,500 quarterly limit. It also offers unlimited 1 percent cash back on all other spending with no restrictions.

The cash back can then be redeemed in any amount as a statement credit, a bank account deposit, a check, or an Amazon purchase credit. Another nice benefit is Discover automatically doubles all the cash back earned at the end of your first year, with no limits to how much is matched.

Apart from the cash back program, Discover it® Students Cash Back has $0 annual fee and $0 foreign transaction fee. There’s no fee for the first late payment, and Discover will not increase your interest rate in cases of late payments. Every school year that your GPA is 3.0 or higher qualifies you for the Good Grade Rewards, which is an additional $20 cash back or statement credit, for up to five years.

Other perks include a free FICO credit score every month and Discover’s Freeze It feature, which lets you turn off several account features, such as the ability to make new purchases and cash advances.

Discover it® for Students Chrome

The second of two Discover credit cards aimed at students, the Discover® for Students Chrome actually offers very similar benefits.

It automatically doubles all the cash back earned at the end of your first year, with no limits to how much is matched. Its Good Grade Rewards offers a $20 bonus cash back or statement credit for each school year that your GPA is 3.0 or higher, for up to five years. It has $0 annual fee, no foreign transaction fee, and no fee for your first late payment.

What differentiates the Discover it® for Students Chrome from the regular Discover it® for Students credit card is its cash back program. Dining and gas purchase earns you 2 percent cash back on up to $1,000 combined purchases per quarter. However, dining and gas purchases above this spending cap still earn an unlimited 1 percent. All other purchases also earn 1 percent cash back. The amount can be redeemed as a statement credit, a bank account deposit, a check, or an Amazon gift card.

Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card for College Students

College students go out. It’s a fact. And Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card for College Students, which offers the most versatile rewards program out of credit cards on this list, makes it one of the most valuable.

For every $1 spent on dining and entertainment, you earn two ThankYou points, and one point for every $1 spent on everything else. These ThankYou points can be redeemed as cash back, statement credits, travel purchases, online shopping purchases, $25 gift cards at major merchants, such as Best Buy, or you can use them to pay off a student loan. Redeem the points at ThankYou.com for other great rewards.

The Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card for College Students is also one of the few student credit cards with a sign-up bonus. Within three months of account opening, you can earn 2,500 ThankYou points after spending at least $500 in purchases.
Besides the $0 annual fee, other perks include Citi’s Private Pass program, which offers VIP access, presales for trendy entertainment events, and a personalized concierge service that includes event booking and 24/7 travel.

Deserve® Edu MasterCard for Students

Some students move to another state for college. Some move to a different country. This is what makes Deserve® Edu MasterCard ideal for international students.

Unlike most credit cards, it’s possible to qualify for the Deserve® Edu MasterCard even without a Social Security number or a US credit history. Deserve uses its own underwriting process to evaluate applications based on alternative criteria.

Like other credit cards for students, it offers $0 annual fee and unlimited 1 percent cash back on all purchases, redeemable for statement credit. Deserve also pays for a 12-month Amazon Prime Student subscription, which costs up to $49.
Another perk is a $30 statement credit bonus for every time you refer a friend who qualifies for the card.

Final Word

That college students shouldn’t use, let alone have their own credit cards, is a myth. As a matter, of fact, “students who use credit responsibly while attending college will be most likely to have a much easier time managing student loan payments and other financial obligations after graduation,” according to Bruce McClary, vice president of communications for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

Out of all the reasons for college students to get their own credit cards (such as a credit card being a teaching tool and offering peace of mind), the rewards that come with the responsible use of credit cards outweigh all the reasons against owning it.
“What rewards?” you might ask.

Aside from the perks, it is the advantage of building a positive credit history early. Your first student credit card is a critical milestone in your finance journey. As the saying goes, you reap what you sow.