Best Student Credit Card for College Students: 8 Options

The best student credit card isn’t a path to riches or the good life but a convenience that should be treated with caution. Even the best cards for students won’t be easy to get, they won’t have super low interest rates and they won’t have amazing rewards schemes. They generally have lower credit limits than many other cards. They’ll have slightly less stringent requirements for approval and they won’t have annual fees.

Our very favorite best student credit cards will carry some kind of reward structure. That’s mainly because we like card companies that treat students like adults, offering them the same benefits extended toward more established members of the working world. They also have nice introductory perks like a $100 cash bonus for spending $500 in the first 90 days.

A Warning About Using Credit

Even the very best college student credit cards are still basically a booby trap in your pocket through which the card companies can attempt to ensnare you. Credit is a convenience that should be paid off monthly without carrying a balance. There’s a reason one of the world’s richest people, Warren Buffett, routinely tells students that debt is a trap. Basically the power of compound interest is a consumer’s best friend, but credit can turn it into a formidable enemy.

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Also see: 15 Best Credit Union Credit Cards

The Best Student Credit Card? It Depends.

We do have a single favorite best student credit card, but there’s a big selection of cards that have great rewards of 1% cash back or more. Some cards additionally come with lower interest rates than most.

There are cards with excellent features available only to those with excellent credit. Some are great for students with bad credit or no credit or are the perfect fit for someone with a middle-of-the-road credit score. The list below shows our top pick for the most popular card, but it also gives options that fit all different financial situations.

Best Student Credit Card: Bank Americard Cash Rewards for Students

best-student-credit-card-overallThe BankAmericard Cash Reward Credit Card for Students is the best student credit card out there because it’s got the total package. It’s the best overall with the best rewards and a great introductory offer. It’s the best card for students whether they have excellent credit, good credit or fair credit. The card gives 1% cash back on all purchases but pumps that up to as much as 3% in popular categories like gas and groceries. The categories don’t rotate so there’s no whackamole headache for rewards spending.

This student credit card has a great introductory offer of a $100 cash bonus for spending $500 in the first 90 days. It’s got a good interest rate, no interest for the first 12 months, no annual fee and it’s available to students with only “fair” credit of 620 or higher. For college students looking to build their credit, there simply isn’t a better all around package than this.

Pros:

  • Great rewards: 1% unlimited cash back on every purchase.
  • Rewards boost: 2% cash back on groceries and wholesale clubs like Sam’s Club and 3% cash back on gas up to $2,500 in spending per quarter.
  • Rewards multiplier: 10% rewards bonus for transferring rewards into a Bank of America savings or checking account.
  • Great introductory offer: Get $100 for spending $500 in the first 90 days.
  • Long grace period: No interest for the first 12 billing cycles.
  • Good interest rate compared to other student credit cards: 13.24% – 23.24%
  • Available with even average credit.
  • Four star rating from 278 WalletHub reviewers.
  • No annual fee.

Cons:

  • 3% balance transfer fee.

Best Student Credit Card for Balance Transfers and Online Shopping

second-best-student-credit-cardThe UPromise World Master Card by Barclaycard has the best balance transfer rate available. The card offers 0% interest on transfers for the first 15 months, making this the card of choice for those with existing debt. This card gives an astounding 10% total cash back on online purchases made at over 800 popular stores including Walmart, Amazon, Overstock and JC Penney.

This student card also has the best introductory offer of a $100 cash prize for using the card at all in the first 90 days regardless of spending amount. This is a fantastic card and a close second for our overall best pick.

Pros:

  • Great rewards: 1% cash back on all purchases.
  • Rewards extra: 2% cash back on eligible movie theater and in-store department store purchases.
  • Huge rewards boost: Total 10% cash back for online purchases made through UPromise.com at popular retailers like Walmart, Amazon, Overstock and hundreds of other stores.
  • Great introductory offer: $100 cash bonus for any use of the card in the first 90 days.
  • Decent interest rate: 14.24% – 23.24%.
  • UPromise credit cards get 4.5 stars from 261 WalletHub users.
  • No annual fee.

Cons:

  • Cash back forfeited during months with missed payments.

Best Student Credit Card for Bad Credit

best-student-credit-card-for-bad-creditThe best student credit card for bad credit is the Discover It Secured card. Not only does it work for those with bad credit but it also has a pretty impressive rewards structure.

Pros:

  • Great rewards: 1% cash back on all purchases.
  • Rewards multiplier: Another 1% cash back for the first year for a total of 2% on all purchases.
  • Rewards boost: 2% cash back on gas and restaurant meals up to $1,000 in spending per quarter.
  • Helps build a good credit rating unlike a prepaid card.
  • No late fee for the first missed payment.
  • No annual fee.
  • Free FICO credit score.
  • Can be turned into an unsecured credit card after one year of good performance.

Cons:

  • High interest of 23.24%.
  • High balance transfer rate of 10.99%
  • Requires $200 deposit and an existing bank account.

Best Student Credit Card for Low Interest

best-student-credit-card-for-low-interestTo some, the best student credit card won’t have the best introductory offer or the best rewards structure, but it will have the lowest interest rate. To those students, the State Farm Student Visa is the card of choice. This card’s 11.49% – 18.49% interest rate range means anyone who qualifies for it will get the lowest interest rate available in a student card. That said, it does also have a rewards program, even if it’s not the best rewards setup on the market.

Pros:

  • Lowest student credit card interest rate of 11.49% – 18.49% depending on creditworthiness.
  • Rewards structure exists: One State Farm Rewards point for every $2 spent on eligible purchases and 3 points for every $1 spent on insurance premiums up to $4,000 spent annually.
  • No annual fee

Cons:

  • Less than stellar rewards compared to other top student cards.
  • Rewards can only be redeemed for selected purchases.
  • Only gets 3 stars from 230 WalletHub reviewers.

Best Student Credit Card Runners Up

The best student credit card is shown at the top of this article: the Bank Americard cash rewards for students card. Students who don’t qualify for that card shouldn’t miss our list of runners up below. Many come in a very close second to our top pick and have excellent rewards and introductory offers, competitive interest rates and other perks to explore.

Best Student Credit Card Runner Up #1: Discover It for Students

best-student-credit-card-runner-up-discoverThe Discover It card for students is the #2 best student credit card out there because of its great cash rewards and amazing introductory offers. It also comes with the ability to freeze the card at will and a very low fee structure. The card carries a low interest rate for qualifying students and a fun incentive for maintaining a high GPA. It also pays 2% cash back on all purchases for the first year. The only reason it’s not higher on the list is it isn’t widely accepted overseas.

Pros:

  • Great rewards: Unlimited 1% cash back on all purchases.
  • Rewards multiplier: Additional 1% cash back the first year for 2% total.
  • Rewards extras: 5% cash back at Amazon, Sam’s Club and department stores up to $1,500 in purchases until December 31st.
  • Grace period: No interest on purchases for the first 6 months and no late fee for the first late payment.
  • GPA incentive: $20 cash reward for each school year GPA is 3.0 or higher.
  • Decent interest rate range: 13.24% – 22.24%
  • No annual fee.
  • Available with even average credit.
  • 4.5 star rating from 300 WalletHub reviewers.

Cons:

  • Not widely accepted overseas.
  • No signup bonus.

Best Student Credit Card Runner Up #2: Discover It Chrome for Students

discover-it-chrome-best-student-credit-cards-runner-up-2The Discover It Chrome Card for Students makes the best student credit card list because of its great rewards structure and solid introductory offer. The card pays unlimited 1% cash back on all purchases plus another 1% match for the first year. That’s a total of 2% cash back, plus there’s no interest on purchases for the first six months.

Pros:

  • Great rewards: 1% cash back on all purchases.
  • Rewards match: 1% match on all cash back for the first year.
  • Rewards boost: 2% cash back on gas and restaurants up to $1,000 in spending per quarter.
  • GPA incentive: $20 per year cash bonus for GPA of 3.0 or higher.
  • Great introductory offer: 0% interest for the first six months.
  • No late fee for first late payment.
  • Free FICO credit score.
  • No foreign transaction fee.
  • Decent interest rate range: 13.24% – 22.24%
  • No annual fee.
  • 4 stars from 185 WalletHub reviewers.

Cons:

  • Not widely accepted overseas.

Best Student Credit Card Runner Up #3: Capital One Journey Student Credit Card

capital-one-journey-best-student-credit-card-3The Capital One Journey Student card gets into the best student credit card list by virtue of its solid rewards offering. It can also boost its credit limit in a relatively short time. Though there’s no low interest rate for those with excellent credit, there’s also no very high interest rate for those with fair credit.

Pros:

  • Good rewards: 1% cash back on all purchases.
  • Rewards boost: 1.25% cash back for months with on-time payments.
  • Students with average credit may actually pay a lower interest rate with this card than with others.
  • Credit limit can be raised after just five months of on-time payments.
  • Available even to those with average credit.

Cons:

  • No low interest rate for those with great credit: 20.24%
  • Only 3.5 stars from 1,440 WalletHub reviewers.

Best Student Credit Card Runner Up #4: Citi ThankYou Preferred Card for College Students

citi-best-student-credit-card-4The last card on our best student credit card list is the Citi ThankYou Preferred Card for College Students. This card from Citigroup comes with decent rewards and a nice signup bonus of 2,500 points for spending $500 in the first three months. There’s also a grace period of seven months with no interest on purchases.

Pros:

  • Decent rewards: “ThankYou” points earned on purchases amount to .08% cash back per dollar spent.
  • Rewards options: Earn more points for restaurant and entertainment purchases.
  • Stretch rewards: Points are worth 1.6 cents each for flights on American Airlines and US Airways.
  • Nice signup bonus: Get 2,500 points for spending $500 in the first three months
  • Decent interest rate: 14.24% – 24.24%

Cons:

  • Somewhat confusing rewards structure.
  • Less enticing rewards than some other student cards.
  • Only 3 stars from 450 WalletHub reviewers.

How We Picked the Best Student Credit Card

To find the best student credit card, we dug through the rewards, introductory offers, interest rates and other features of every student credit card on the market. We compared all the perks, benefits and drawbacks of each and every student card, including ease of acceptance for different credit scores. All rankings in this article are current as of 11/4/16.

Curious about whether you’ve got good credit, bad credit, no credit or average credit? Check out this post about the meaning of credit scores. Need extra money for Christmas but don’t want to rack up credit? See this post about ways to make more Christmas money.

Sources:

WalletHub