The best credit cards for students right now
Students are stressed enough, and skyrocketing student loan interest rates and credit card defaults aren’t helping. To help you out, we’ve put together a list of the best student credit cards. We looked at card issuer details, such as fees, rewards, and interest rates. We also took into account customer feedback and expert opinions from leading personal finance sites such as NerdWallet, The Points Guy, and Credit Karma to inform our analysis.
First of all, a good student credit card must meet several criteria. Ideally, you should:
- Have no annual fees
- Have a low or fair interest rate (APR)
- Report to all major credit bureaus
- Offer rewards or incentives like cash back
- Include educational tools and credit monitoring
When shopping for your first student card, remember the advice of Ellen Cannon, editorial director of NerdWallet: “Make sure you can qualify, then look for one with no annual fee that reports payments to the three major credit reporting agencies.” Experts agree that these features are essential when evaluating your first card.
Although this list includes seven of the best starter credit cards for students, it is not exhaustive. So continue your research until you’ve found the card that best meets your unique needs.
