Best Student Credit Cards

A student credit card is a credit card branded specifically for use by college and graduate students with limited credit history or better. Student credit cards are easier to get than the average credit card, and they usually have $0 annual fees, rewards equal to at least 1% cash back on purchases, and minimum credit limits of $300 or so. Some student credit cards offer low introductory APRs, but the regular APRs on student credit cards tend to be above average.

Students generally have less credit history and less income than professionals and older adults. But students also come with assumed future earning potential, so credit card companies are more willing to approve a student with no credit history than a non-student newcomer. Student credit cards work just like regular credit cards, however, because they are regular credit cards. They’re just aimed at students.

Student credit cards can help students with fair, limited, or no credit build their credit history. The right student card can also teach responsible credit card habits to people who are new to the game. For example, some give bonus rewards for on-time bill payments and/or good grades.

You’ll need to be at least 18 years old to apply for a student credit card—or any credit card— on your own. If you’re under 21, you’ll need an independent income that the credit card company can verify. Income from even a part-time job will help your approval odds. And of course, you should be a student; you’ll most likely be asked about your school information on the application. Limited or no credit history usually is not an issue with student cards, but if you already have bad credit, you may not get approved. In that case, you may want to aim for a secured credit card, like the Discover it Secured Credit Card.

It’s important to remember that student credit cards are definitely real credit cards. Like all unsecured cards, you can get in over your head if you aren’t using it responsibly. And the higher APRs of student cards can be a big extra weight if you carry a balance.

College students should have a credit card for two reasons: convenience and credit building. The extra spending power that a credit card provides can be a big help in emergency situations. That, plus $0 fraud liability and free replacement cards, should reassure anxious parents. Credit cards are also the best credit building tools that we have available to us because they’re easy to get, can be free to use and don’t force you to go into debt.

Building credit during college is important because it will give you a leg up after graduation. Your credit standing could affect your ability to find a job, place to live, car to drive and more. Plus, it will either save or cost you a lot of money on credit cards, loans and insurance premiums.

Finally, college students can learn a lot from managing their own credit card account. It’s a big responsibility, which demands organization, budgeting and self-control. Getting some practice while you have free time and the stakes are relatively low will help prepare you for the pressures of the “real world.”

You can apply for a student credit card online, at a branch or (in some cases) by phone. To be eligible for approval, student credit card applicants must be at least 18 years old, earn enough income to afford monthly bill payments, and have limited credit or better (just not bad credit). To fill out a student credit card application, you will need to provide your annual income, your Social Security number (or an applicable alternative for international students) and other personal information – usually along with information about your school.

As with any credit card, when you apply for a student credit card, you could receive a decision instantly if you apply online, or it could take as long as 10 business days. It usually takes 7-10 business days to receive a card in the mail after approval.

Student credit card issuers obviously expect applicants to be students, and many require proof. But they all do it a little differently. For example, the Citi Rewards Student Card asks for your school’s details and your expected graduation date on the application, and its terms say the card is for currently-enrolled students only. At least one student credit card, the Capital One Journey Student Credit Card, doesn’t require applicants to be students in its terms and conditions.

Applying for a student credit card might sound complicated and intimidating, especially if it’s your first credit card application. Try not to sweat it, though—the process is fairly simple in reality.

How to Get a Student Credit Card:

1. Apply online, over the phone, or in-person. Make sure to have your SSN (or accepted alternative) and annual income at hand. If you’re under 21, you’ll need to have independent income to get approved for a credit card. 
2. Wait for a decision. Sometimes, you’ll get an instant decision. If not, the typical waiting period for credit card applications is 7-10 business days.
3. Watch your mailbox. If you’re denied, the credit card company will send you a letter explaining your denial. If you’re approved, you’ll receive your credit card in the mail 7-10 days after you’re approved.

Student credit cards are a good way for students without much credit history to build credit. Their rewards can also work in a student’s favor. Some offer statement credits for good grades and perks for paying the bill on time. And you definitely need to pay all the bills on time if you want to be successful after you apply for a student credit card.

The easiest credit cards for students to get are student credit cards for applicants with limited or no credit history and secured credit cards, which are available to people with no credit or even bad credit. Since college students tend to have higher incomes in the long term, issuers are willing to extend them better offers than most people without established credit could get. Think of it as an investment in a student’s future financial needs, which could prove quite profitable for a bank that gets in on the ground floor.

The best student credit cards, including Journey Student Rewards from Capital One and the Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students, will be easy to get as long as you’re enrolled in school and have at least a small income as well as a credit score that’s anything but bad. In fact, you can get them even if you don’t have a credit score yet because you’ve never had a loan or line of credit before. And if you do have bad credit, a secured card will still be pretty easy to get.

Easy Credit Cards for Students to Get

• Journey Student Rewards from Capital One – Pay-On-Time Bonus
• Discover it® Student chrome – Good-Student Bonus
• Bank of America® Cash Rewards Credit Card for Students – Best for Cash Back
• Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students – Best for Travel Rewards
• Secured Mastercard® from Capital One – Best Partially Secured Card
• Discover it® Secured Credit Card – Best for High Approval Odds

The easiest credit cards for students to get allow young people to begin building credit before entering the real world. If you use your card responsibly and pay your bills on time, you should be able to get a better deal once you graduate. And that’s true whether you’re starting with a student credit card or a secured card.

Here’s what to put for income on a credit card application as a student: income from full or part-time jobs (including work-study), investment dividends, and most other funds that are regularly deposited into your bank account. Excess scholarship money that ends up in your bank account after tuition expenses generally counts as income, too. Some credit card companies may even consider the entire amount as income if it lands in your bank account first. Social Security payments and pensions from deceased relatives, and public assistance payments also count as income. Money from grants may or may not count, depending on the credit card company.

In general, if the money is available to pay a debt you owe, and is not earmarked exclusively for education expenses, it usually counts as income on a credit card application. The exception is borrowed money, including student loans.

Student loans don’t count as income

There’s no law against including student loan disbursements in your total annual income. But student loan money shouldn’t be counted as income on a credit card application because it’s not income—it’s debt. Any money that must be repaid should not be counted as income. Many students use loan money for personal expenses while in school, but that doesn’t mean it’s income.

What portion of scholarship or grant money counts as income?

Customer service representatives from different credit card companies have different opinions on this. For example, Chase reps say it depends on where the awarded money lands first. If the money goes directly to your school to pay for tuition and fees, you can only include whatever amount ultimately lands in your bank account. If the money comes to you first, you can include the entire amount—even if you pay tuition with it.

A Capital One rep said that no matter where scholarship money lands first, it’s up to the student to decide what gets counted in the application. That said, the rep did distinguish that grants do not count as income: “Neither student loans nor grants count as income because they are not considered a stable, continuous source of income."

If you’re in doubt, it’s best to call your credit card company’s customer service line and ask directly.

A student’s age impacts income on credit card applications

It’s worth noting that shared income can only be included on a credit card application if you’re over 21 years old. Those under 21 must have independent proof of income or a cosigner to get a credit card. That rule dates back to the Credit CARD Act of 2009. Credit card companies now have a more formal obligation to assess an applicant’s ability to pay their debt before extending a credit line.

How credit card companies interpret the law

There is a bit of a grey area between the CARD Act’s rules and credit card company guidelines for annual income. The law requires credit card companies to consider independent income for applicants under the age of 21. But based on the way major card issuers seem to interpret it, independent income doesn’t necessarily mean money earned directly by a student for doing a job.

For example, a Chase customer service representative suggested including any type of allowance you might receive from someone else to help pay your bills, if it’s deposited in your own bank account. Similarly, a Capital One representative noted that money must be “reasonably available” to you for it to count as independent income. That means the money must be regularly deposited into your personal account, or an account you share with the person depositing the funds.

So if your parents regularly deposit money into your bank account, you can use that amount in your annual income figure, according to Chase and Capital One reps. And if you’re 21 or older, you're allowed to report shared household income as your own on a credit application, as long as you have a reasonable expectation of access to the money. Sharing a bank account is not required in that case.

Does my annual income have to be 100% accurate?

Theoretically, credit card companies can take steps to verify what you put for income on your application. If they have a reason to doubt the number you give them, they can request information from your tax returns or use data from your credit report to create an estimate of your income. Keep that in mind because it’s against federal law to put false information on a credit card application. The law isn’t commonly prosecuted, but technically, breaking it is punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison per offense.

Having income from at least a part-time job will help a student get a credit card. But many students are unemployed while they’re in school. A 60% majority of full-time college students don’t have jobs, according to a 2019 study by the National Center for Education Statistics. That puts many college students at a disadvantage when it comes to getting a credit card. If your income is too low, try to find a cosigner or become an authorized user on a friend or family member’s account.

Credit cards for students with bad credit make it possible to build positive credit history at a low cost. Very few student credit cards accept applicants with bad credit scores, usually requiring limited credit or better for approval. But there are other credit cards for students with bad credit to use instead – most notably, secured credit cards. Secured cards tend to have low fees, and the refundable security deposit you must place doubles as your credit limit, ensuring you won’t get in over your head (some cards are from WalletHub partners). Unsecured cards for bad credit tend to be far more expensive in the long run.
 

Best Credit Cards for Students with Bad Credit:

• Credit One Bank® Visa® Credit Card
• Secured Mastercard® from Capital One
• OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card
• Discover it® Secured Credit Card
• Milestone® Mastercard® - Less Than Perfect Credit Considered
• Fingerhut Credit Account
• First Progress Platinum Select Mastercard® Secured Credit Card

Students who are 18+ years old with enough income to cover monthly bill payments are eligible for a credit card, in general. Bad credit, not age, is the complicating factor here. So the key is to find a low-cost card that will overlook poor credit history.

Using one of the best credit cards for students with bad credit responsibly is one of the easiest ways to  rebuild your credit because information about your usage will be sent to your major credit reports each month. That means on-time payments and low credit utilization will lessen the impact of the negative information already there. Whether your bad credit is the result of a delinquent loan, medical bill or old credit card account, you’ll need to rebuild your credit standing in order to qualify for low interest rates, buy your first home, lease a car, or even get certain jobs.

Your goal in comparing options for bad credit student credit cards should be finding the card with the lowest annual and monthly fees. The interest rate you get is not as important because you should avoid carrying a balance from month to month when rebuilding credit.

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There are no secured cards you can get if you're a student with no income.

The easiest credit card to get with no credit is the OpenSky Secured Visa Credit Card. There is no credit check when you apply, so approval is nearly guaranteed for anyone who's at least 18 years old, but you must have an income high enough to afford monthly bill payments.

The best Discover student credit card is the Discover it® Student Cash Back credit card because it gives 5% cash back on different types of purchases each quarter (up to $1,500 spent quarterly, and $6,000 annually). That bumps up the card’s earning potential to the top tier of student credit cards. You have to sign up for the new categories each quarter, but there’s an extra cherry on top for those who do: Discover it Student Cash Back will match the cash back that new cardholders earn the first year. That can be a huge benefit if you’re maxing out the card’s 5% back categories. All other purchases earn 1% cash back.

The other Discover student card contender is the Discover it® Student chrome, which gives a consistent 2% cash back on up to $1,000 spent at gas stations and restaurants combined each quarter. All other purchases get 1% back. While this rewards setup could work to a commuting student’s advantage, the maximum a cardholder can earn in normal bonus rewards annually is $80. On the plus side, this card won’t make you register for cash back every quarter. Chrome for Students also doubles the first year’s cash back, though the bonus has less earning potential than with the Student Cash Back card.

Best Discover Student Credit Card: Student Cash Back vs Chrome for Students

Discover it Student Cash Back: 5% back on up to $1,500 spent per quarter in rotating categories.

Discover it Chrome for Students: 2% back on up to $1,000 spent per quarter at gas stations and restaurants combined.  

Features on Both Cards: 1% cash back on non-bonus purchases, 0% APR for first 6 months, first-year’s rewards doubled, $20 annual statement credit for a 3.0 GPA, no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. 

Overall, students who are organized and eager to enter the world of credit card rewards will do well getting the Discover it Student Cash Back card. The Discover it Chrome for Students card might be the better option for commuting students who spend a lot at gas stations and restaurants, but the cash back opportunities aren’t quite as promising.

The best Chase student credit card is the new Chase Freedom® Student credit card, which launched in June 2019. This card has a $0 annual fee and gives 1 point per $1 on all purchases.

It has some nice rewards bonuses, too, starting with 5,000 points bonus points ($50 cash back) simply for making a single purchase within three months of opening an account. Plus, keeping your account in good standing by paying your monthly bills on time is good for a $20 bonus each year for up to five years.

In addition to these, you earn 5 points (5% cash back) per $1 on Lyft rides through March 2022. Plus, you get a complimentary 3 months of DashPass and after that 50% off the DashPass for the next 9 months (activate by December 31, 2021).

Those rewards rates and fees are pretty good, though not quite on par with the best student credit cards on the market right now. Chase Freedom Unlimited®, one of the best cash back credit cards overall, was never officially branded as being for students. But Chase recommended it for these scholarly credit newcomers on its website for a while.

Now, however, things are looking up for college students shopping for a credit card. Chase, one of the largest credit card companies around, has now officially re-joined the ranks of student credit card issuers. As a result, 6 of the 7 biggest credit card issuers in the U.S. have at least one credit card offer for college students.

The best Visa credit card for students is Journey Student Rewards from Capital One because it has great cash back rewards, gives you extra for paying on time and doesn’t charge an annual fee. But there are a lot of good options to consider. For example, Bank of America® Cash Rewards Credit Card for Students is great for 0% interest at the start, and the Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students has terms well-suited to study abroad.

In general, despite having little credit experience, college students can expect better-than-average rates, fees and rewards because they have high earning potential and many years of financial needs ahead of them. Banks want to get in early, in other words. And you can take advantage of that by getting a great student credit card and saving lots of money.

Best Visa Credit Cards for Students

• Most Cash Back – Journey Student Rewards from Capital One: The normal cash back rate is 1% but you can get 1.25% if you pay your bill on time. There’s no annual fee and you don’t need a credit history in order to be approved.
• Intro APR – Bank of America® Cash Rewards Credit Card for Students: This card won’t charge you any interest for 12 months, both on purchases and on balance transfers. You get 3% cash back on your first $2,500 in gas, 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, and 1% on everything else. There’s also a $200 bonus when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days. And there’s no annual fee, nor do you need a credit history.
• Travel Benefits – Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students: If you’re planning to travel often, this card is for you. You get unlimited 3 points / $1 at the Bank of America Travel center and 1.5 points / $1 on all other purchases. And you get 25,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days. The card doesn’t have an annual fee and there’s no credit history necessary for approval. 
• Bonus Cash Back – Wells Fargo Cash Back College℠ Card: This card gives 3% cash back on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases for the first 6 months. After that, you’ll earn 1% back on all purchases. The Wells Fargo Cash Back College card doesn’t charge an annual fee.

Any of these choices are good for students, but Journey Student Rewards and Bank of America Cash Rewards are probably the best two because they offer cash back rewards and don’t charge annual fees. You’ll be able to get the most consistent value out of them. But it’s good to look at cards from networks other than Visa, too. Some of the best choices include Discover it for Students and the Capital One Secured Mastercard.